Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management最新文献

{"title":"Social life cycle assessment of industrial gold mining in Mali.","authors":"Zan Mary Konaré, Dickson Dare Ajayi, Sidy Ba, Ademola Kabiru Aremu","doi":"10.1093/inteam/vjaf005","DOIUrl":"10.1093/inteam/vjaf005","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Gold mining in Mali contributes significantly to the country's socioeconomic growth, employing hundreds of people and generating considerable export revenues and income. At the same time, gold mining still has a bad reputation in public opinion due to the environmental and socioeconomic challenges it poses. It is therefore important to integrate Mali's gold mining sector into a framework of social responsibility, using the social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) approach to identify and understand social opportunities and challenges. This study focuses on an application of the S-LCA approach to assess the social performance of industrial gold mining in Mali. Primary data were collected from company representatives, workers, and local communities. The results of the study show that in 85.2% of ratings, the company has at least good performance and poor performance in 14.8% of ratings. The results show also that excessive working hours, corruption, sexual harassment, and discrimination are identified as social hotspots in the gold mines in Mali. This article provides a useful addition to the literature on the application of S-LCA and for political and administrative decision-makers in the sector to promote fact-driven policies for socially profitable gold mining. Further research would be useful to address the hotspots identified, particularly with regard to the effective management of labor and the prevention of corruption and sexual harassment.</p>","PeriodicalId":13557,"journal":{"name":"Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management","volume":" ","pages":"702-717"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143004845","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Content hubs, information flows, and reactions for pesticide-related discussions on Twitter/X.","authors":"Tiancheng Zhou, Yu Huang, Raghavendhran Avanasi, Richard A Brain, Mattia Prosperi, Jiang Bian","doi":"10.1093/inteam/vjaf032","DOIUrl":"10.1093/inteam/vjaf032","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Pesticides are essential in modern agriculture for controlling pests and enhancing food production. However, concerns about their human and environmental health impacts have broadened discussions on their use, regulation, ethics, and sustainability. Scientific research, media coverage, and input from corporations, governments, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) shape public opinions and potentially influence regulatory decisions. This project analyzed pesticide-related discussions on Twitter/X from 2013 to 2022, focusing on information influence and propagation among individuals and organizations, advancing over prior research that looked at topic frequency, trends, and geography. Using a validated snowball sampling method, we collected over 3 million tweets from 1 million users and identified key network influencers, i.e., information hubs, analyzing their content, popularity, and characteristics. Machine learning and a tailored information flow score were used to explore the dynamics of information flow and sentiment across hubs. Our analysis revealed that organizational hubs, particularly NGOs and media, were more active and had higher follower-to-following ratios than individual influencers. Media and NGOs also dominated the pesticide-related discourse, while individual influencers had a lesser role. Information sources were unevenly distributed, with a dominance of retweets, news, and media posts, and a low prevalence of scientific sources. Information flow was high through NGOs, academia, and individuals, but poor from government accounts. Pesticide-focused hubs were more active and targeted in their information dissemination, with public sentiment largely negative. By delving deeper into the dynamics of information dissemination and influence networks, this study provides insights that emphasize (1) the need for better communication strategies to integrate diverse stakeholder perceptions and values, and (2) prioritizing the dissemination of credible scientific information, while also addressing sectoral disparities. Together, they can help policymakers and industry stakeholders build trust, promote transparency, and advance sustainable pesticide regulation.</p>","PeriodicalId":13557,"journal":{"name":"Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management","volume":" ","pages":"628-638"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12047019/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143500838","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A demonstrable need to follow scientific evidence in the derivation of environmental quality standards: a case study of European surface waters.","authors":"Iain Wilson, Graham Merrington, Adam Peters, Elizabeth Middleton, Emily Garman, Christian Schlekat","doi":"10.1093/inteam/vjaf014","DOIUrl":"10.1093/inteam/vjaf014","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Environmental quality standards (EQS) derived under the European Water Framework Directive are legally binding and enshrined in individual European Member State Country national legislation. These EQS are derived following well-established guidance documents. In 2013, EQS for nickel were derived for freshwaters to be protective against long- and short-term exposures, at 4 and 34 µg L-1, respectively. The value for long-term exposures uses chronic ecotoxicity data and accounts for bioavailability, whereas the short-term value uses acute data and does not account for bioavailability. In 2022, the European Commission revised these values as part of the ongoing legislative process. Despite an increase in available data for both chronic and acute ecotoxicity endpoints, the update and development of chronic and acute biotic ligand models (BLMs) published in peer-reviewed literature, and the accessibility of vastly more monitoring data (used in the European EQS derivation), the values for the nickel EQS were reduced by increasing the assessment factors to account for increases in apparent uncertainties. The Commission's 2022 derivation failed to consider additional chronic data for more than 20 species as well as the updated and new acute and chronic BLMs. As a result, the derived nickel EQS is limited in its applicability and relevance to European freshwater ecosystems, as illustrated in practice by the observation that monitoring sites can comply with the chronic EQS but fail the acute EQS. Here, we provide an explanation as to why this has occurred and detail what it means for the risk assessment of nickel in European Member State freshwaters. Finally, we outline a path forward that should be relevant for any risk-based and evidence-driven regulatory framework and acknowledging that political decisions are part of the process, but that these should be separate and after scientific aspects are undertaken.</p>","PeriodicalId":13557,"journal":{"name":"Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management","volume":" ","pages":"480-484"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143059030","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Correction to: Determining the effects of freshwater inflow on benthic macrofauna in the Caloosahatchee Estuary, Florida.","authors":"","doi":"10.1093/inteam/vjaf025","DOIUrl":"10.1093/inteam/vjaf025","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":13557,"journal":{"name":"Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management","volume":" ","pages":"728"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143556787","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Trends, challenges, and research pathways in emerging contaminants: a comprehensive bibliometric analysis.","authors":"Md Shahin Alam, Farzaneh Tahriri, Gang Chen","doi":"10.1093/inteam/vjae036","DOIUrl":"10.1093/inteam/vjae036","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The growing concern over environmental pollution has spurred extensive research into various contaminants impacting ecosystems and human health. Emerging contaminants (ECs), including pharmaceuticals, personal care products, endocrine-disrupting chemicals, nanomaterials, and microplastics, have garnered significant attention due to their persistence, bioaccumulation, and toxicity. This study presents a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of EC research, aiming to detail the research landscape, highlight significant contributions, and identify influential researchers and pivotal studies. Data were sourced from the Web of Science, encompassing 62,670 documents from January 2000 to May 2024. Advanced bibliometric tools, including Bibliometrix, VOSviewer, and CiteSpace, were employed to analyze publication outputs, citation metrics, and collaboration patterns. The analysis revealed an exponential increase in EC research, with annual publications growing from fewer than 1,000 before 2006 to nearly 7,000 by 2022. Environmental Science & Technology emerged as the most influential journal. Based on the number of publications and citations as a country, China and the United States led in research outputs. Co-authorship and collaboration networks highlighted key hubs and prominent researchers, with significant contributions from environmental sciences, chemical engineering, and toxicology. Keyword co-occurrence analysis identified core themes, such as degradation, removal, and the impacts of ECs, reflecting evolving research interests and emerging topics. This bibliometric analysis provides valuable insights into the development and current state of EC research, serving as a resource for guiding future research efforts and fostering collaborations. The study indicates the critical need for continued research to address the challenges posed by ECs and develop effective regulatory policies and remediation strategies.</p>","PeriodicalId":13557,"journal":{"name":"Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management","volume":" ","pages":"496-506"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142978352","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Analytics in laboratory effect studies with soil invertebrates-technical challenges and implications for soil risk assessment of plant protection products.","authors":"Gregor Ernst, Melanie Bottoms, Michael Marx, Judith Neuwöhner, Thomas G Preuss, Agnes Schimera, Amanda Sharples, Frank Staab","doi":"10.1093/inteam/vjaf057","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/inteam/vjaf057","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The inclusion of analytics in soil invertebrate laboratory studies is gaining increasing attention in the European risk assessment of plant protection products (PPPs). Analytics in soil were recently requested for fast-dissipating compounds in the revised Central Zone Working Document. However, the Working Document, as well as the technical OECD testing guidelines, lack clarity on 1) how to design the laboratory studies to reliably fulfill this requirement, 2) how to consider the analytically measured values to derive robust ecotoxicological endpoints, and 3) how to use endpoints that consider time-variable exposure in the test, in the risk assessment of PPPs. A hypothetical case study is presented to show the impact on the risk assessment when ecotoxicological endpoints that are expressed as time-weighted average (TWA) concentrations are compared with maximum predicted environmental concentrations (PEC) in soil to calculate a Tier 1 toxicity-exposure-ratio (TER). The persistent compound would pass the critical TER trigger of 5 whereas the fast-dissipating compound fails the risk assessment. However, a fast dissipation of a compound is, from an environmental perspective, a favourable substance property and especially inherent for biological products. This sets the wrong motivation for the development of new PPPs. The suitability of using TWA-PECs in the risk assessment instead of maximum PECs is discussed by comparing temporal exposure scenarios in the test system with scenarios that may occur under realistic field situations. This analysis shows that potential underestimation of the risks may occur only for specific situations where the PEC in soil temporally exceeds the regulatory acceptable concentration over time. In such cases the use of TWA-PECs in soil may be applicable in the risk assessment provided the assumption of reciprocity is fulfilled. A reciprocity check can be performed via tailored ecotoxicological testing and/or effect modeling to justify the use of TWA-PECs in the risk assessment.</p>","PeriodicalId":13557,"journal":{"name":"Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143999804","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Path of Regional Value Chain Transformation and Emission Reduction: Evidence from China's Participation in APEC Value Chains.","authors":"Yeying Wu, Zheng Lu","doi":"10.1093/inteam/vjaf054","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/inteam/vjaf054","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The shift in value chain trade from globalization to regionalization has provided developing countries with opportunities for value chain upgrading and has influenced trade-related embodied carbon emissions. This study uses panel data on trade and carbon emissions between China and 21 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies from 1991 to 2021, applying a fixed-effects model to analyze changes in embodied carbon emissions. The focus is on China, the largest developing country, as it participates in the APEC regional value chain in different ways.It is confirmed that China is leveraging regional value chains to achieve industrial transformation from the perspective of value added. Subsequently, indicators for forward and backward participation in regional value chains are constructed, recalculating their impacts on carbon emissions in terms of scale, structure, and technology. The results indicate that China's forward participation exhibits a U-shaped relationship with trade-related embodied carbon emissions, while backward participation demonstrates a negative correlation. Industrial heterogeneity analysis further highlights distinct impacts across high-tech, low-tech, pollution-intensive, and non-pollution-intensive sectors.Furthermore, scale effects, structural effects, and technological effects represent distinct pathways influencing trade-related carbon emissions. These findings can assist developing countries advance sustainable development and achieve carbon peak goals.</p>","PeriodicalId":13557,"journal":{"name":"Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144014399","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Development and Application of Human Health Risk-Based Screening Levels for Crude Oil Affected Soils and Sediments in the Niger Delta.","authors":"George E DeVaull, Matthijs Bonte, Erich R Gundlach, Ogonnaya I Iroakasi","doi":"10.1093/inteam/vjaf052","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/inteam/vjaf052","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Management of oil impacted sites in Nigeria is regulated through the Environmental Guidelines and Standards for the Petroleum Industry in Nigeria (EGASPIN). This includes an intervention value for total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) of 5,000 mg/kg as a trigger for remedial action. This single intervention value does not differentiate between varied land uses or the specific chemical composition of spilled oil. The EGASPIN does allow development of refined screening levels based upon human health risk assessment methods. Following these requirements, we have applied the ASTM risk-based corrective action (RBCA) process to define Tier 1 Risk Based Screening Levels (RBSLs) and Tier 2 Site Specific Target Level (SSTLs). Both are derived using United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) guidance supplemented by equations correcting for the properties of chemical mixtures, presence of a residual oil phase, and preferential depletion of volatile oil components. The RBSLs were calculated for five Nigerian crude oils and six exposure scenarios specific to the Niger Delta while SSTLs were calculated using sediment sampling results and four exposure scenarios from the Bodo oil spill area located in the eastern Niger Delta mangrove swamp area. Derived TPH RBSLs range between a factor of 2.5 lower (more stringent) for residential land use to > 10x higher for 'Commercial and Industrial Workers', when compared to the Nigerian EGASPIN intervention value. Derived SSTLs for TPH ranged between a value just above the intervention value for shoreline areas near Bodo Town to values ∼6x higher than the intervention value for most uninhabited mangrove areas. The derived RBSLs and SSTLs are protective of human health but other criteria (aesthetic, ecological) may be more stringent. Additional criteria are introduced, including oil mobility (potential spreading of existing impacts) and criteria for ensuring the viability of the mangrove environment.</p>","PeriodicalId":13557,"journal":{"name":"Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143963376","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Pitfalls of India's Restoration Initiatives.","authors":"Jithu K Jose","doi":"10.1093/inteam/vjaf051","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/inteam/vjaf051","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The current decline of biodiversity is a pressing global issue. Restoration, widely accepted as a natural climate solution, is an effective measure to combat this loss. However, restoration practices vary among countries; developing countries like India rarely produce positive restoration outcomes. There are many pitfalls in India's restoration efforts. Most of the restoration programs in the country are 'just planting trees'. The majority of the tree-planting programs in the country were questioned due to their unscientific approach and negative impacts. Most restoration initiatives focus more on planting a certain number of trees than on how many will survive over time or, more crucially, if the intended benefits will be realised. They look for short-term results rather than long-term goals. Post-restoration studies and results are unavailable for most projects in the country. Restoration initiatives in many Indian states were criticized for generating negative impacts. Large-scale restoration initiatives divert the funding for conservation, so protecting existing biodiversity should be the priority.</p>","PeriodicalId":13557,"journal":{"name":"Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143985156","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Improving Risk Assessment of Land-Applied Biosolids with Probabilistic Approaches.","authors":"J Derek Sain, Paul Wiegand, Brad Barnhart, Camille Flinders","doi":"10.1093/inteam/vjaf049","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/inteam/vjaf049","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Land application of municipal and industrial wastewater biosolids for use as a fertilizer or soil conditioner is a common practice in the United States. Regulations are in place to reduce pathogens, minimize disease vectors, and limit concentrations of nutrients and some metals, but extensive assessment of the risk of biosolids-associated chemicals to human health and environmental systems is uncommon. Recently, the United States Environmental Protection Agency developed the Biosolids Tool (BST) to facilitate more comprehensive chemical risk assessment of land-applied biosolids based on a deterministic approach that utilizes conservative model inputs without regard for the variability and uncertainty inherent in environmental exposures. Management decisions based on probabilistic risk assessment (PRA), in which variability and uncertainty are quantified and risk is linked to specific population segments, may provide a more accurate understanding of risk. We examined the sediment risk assessment literature and explored the application of probabilistic model inputs within the BST to better understand how deterministic (DRA) and probabilistic (PRA) risk assessment methods compare for characterizing risk. The BST model results for noncancer and cancer risk outcomes associated with total ingestion of aluminum and benzo(a)pyrene in biosolids applied to pastureland for an adult and child indicated that PRA provides a more nuanced understanding of risk than the traditionally used deterministic approach. Receptor-specific risk patterns, model sensitivity, and risk drivers are discussed. Findings underscore the need for incorporating probabilistic methods into regulatory frameworks to improve the accuracy and reliability of risk assessments for biosolids land application.</p>","PeriodicalId":13557,"journal":{"name":"Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143998541","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}