{"title":"Human Health Consequences of Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals","authors":"H. Heshmati","doi":"10.5772/intechopen.94955","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.94955","url":null,"abstract":"Daily use of chemicals is an essential part of modern life. Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are a heterogeneous group of exogenous chemicals or chemical mixtures that interfere with the action of hormones and consequently cause adverse effects to humans and wildlife. The number of EDCs has markedly increased over the past 60 years. Humans are constantly exposed to hundreds of EDCs mainly through air, water, and food. Exposure to EDCs (in utero or lifetime) may be a significant component of the environmental origin of several medical conditions. The developing fetus and neonate are more sensitive than adults to perturbation by EDCs. The prenatal damage can cause adverse consequences later in life (developmental origins of adult disease). In many cases, the damage is irreversible. There is also a possibility of transgenerational effects. By interfering with hormonal functions, EDCs can contribute to a variety of dysfunctions and diseases including obesity, diabetes, reproductive disorders, and cancers. Information on long-term effects of chronic, low-dose exposure to EDCs is relatively limited. EDCs represent a global threat for human health and cause a high cost for the society. Promoting public knowledge and initiating preventive measures will help minimizing the health and economic consequences of EDCs for future generations.","PeriodicalId":445439,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Issues and Sustainable Development","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115188545","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
I. Morosanu, C. Teodosiu, L. Tofan, Daniela Fighir, C. Păduraru
{"title":"Valorization of Rapeseed Waste Biomass in Sorption Processes for Wastewater Treatment","authors":"I. Morosanu, C. Teodosiu, L. Tofan, Daniela Fighir, C. Păduraru","doi":"10.5772/intechopen.94942","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.94942","url":null,"abstract":"Circular economy provides an efficient framework for effective biomass valorization, through strategic use and processing of resources and waste reuse. Being the second largest energetic crop, rapeseed (RS) presents a high potential in this sense. However, good management of the large quantity of generated wastes from agro-industrial activities is required. The most common management strategies in this sense refer to the reuse of RS wastes (mainly stems and press-cake) for animal feed, compost, soil amendment and fertilizer. Valorization of RS wastes as adsorbent for wastewater treatment is attractive. Despite the fact that only few articles on this subject exist in literature, they are sufficient to reflect the potential of this adsorbent to remove both inorganic and organic compounds from aqueous phase. The rapeseed wastes were used in native form (for diluted effluents) or modified by chemical or thermal treatment (for concentrated effluents or large molecule contaminants). This chapter will provide a review on the RS wastes management strategies, highlighting the applications for removing contaminants from wastewater in single and multi-component systems, in static or continuous operation mode.","PeriodicalId":445439,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Issues and Sustainable Development","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"117150964","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Impact of Climate Change on Life","authors":"H. Heshmati","doi":"10.5772/intechopen.94538","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.94538","url":null,"abstract":"Climate is changing in an accelerating pace. Climate change occurs as a result of an imbalance between incoming and outgoing radiation in the atmosphere. The global mean temperatures may increase up to 5.4°C by 2100. Climate change is mainly caused by humans, especially through increased greenhouse gas emissions. Climate change is recognized as a serious threat to ecosystem, biodiversity, and health. It is associated with alterations in the physical environment of the planet Earth. Climate change affects life around the globe. It impacts plants and animals, with consequences for the survival of the species. In humans, climate change has multiple deleterious consequences. Climate change creates water and food insecurity, increased morbidity/mortality, and population movement. Vulnerable populations (e.g., children, elderly, indigenous, and poor) are disproportionately affected. Personalized adaptation to the consequences of climate change and preventive measures are key challenges for the society. Policymakers must implement the appropriate strategies, especially in the vulnerable populations.","PeriodicalId":445439,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Issues and Sustainable Development","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-11-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131285488","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
T. Ma, Nairong Tan, Xiaolei Wang, Fanfan Zhang, Hui Fang
{"title":"Spatial Carrying Capacity and Sustainability: Cities, Basins, Regional Transformation","authors":"T. Ma, Nairong Tan, Xiaolei Wang, Fanfan Zhang, Hui Fang","doi":"10.5772/intechopen.94130","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.94130","url":null,"abstract":"This chapter focuses on the spatial carrying capacity of different types of space units. Based on the characteristics of different units, it discusses how resource carrying capacity, environmental carrying capacity, ecological carrying capacity, and infrastructure carrying capacity together affect the spatial carrying capacity and allocation efficiency of space units. Cities need agglomeration of economic and demographic elements to expand the scale of spatial carrying capacity. Basins need to allocate water resources rationally under the condition of limited water resources for the sustainable development of river basin ecosystem. Regions need to explore regional comparative advantages and transformation paths from regional industries. The case studies discuss how the spatial carrying capacity of cities, river basins, and regional transformation adapt to environmental changes and the direction of carrying capacity improvement.","PeriodicalId":445439,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Issues and Sustainable Development","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-11-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127403975","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Soil Genesis of Histosols and Gelisols with a Emphasis on Soil Processes Supporting Carbon Sequestration","authors":"M. Aide, Christine Aide, I. Braden","doi":"10.5772/intechopen.94399","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.94399","url":null,"abstract":"Based on the U.S. Soil Taxonomy Histosols are soils that have a histic epipedon, which is a surface horizon that exhibits a sufficient abundance of soil organic matter to be distinctively different than other soil orders predominantly composed of clastic materials. Gelisols are soils that have permafrost, with histels being a suborder that is dominated by organic materials. Collectively, these soil orders are abundant in peatland ecosystems. The abundance of soil organic material is primarily a consequence of climate, topography, hydrology, vegetation. Peatland ecosystems have been a major research arena; however, added research attention is being directed to the potential release of carbon because of accelerated climate change. This review focuses of the structure and dynamics of organic soils and an understanding of their creation, evolution and ultimate fate. Attention is focused on degraded peatland net primary productivity because of potential forthcoming differences attributed to rainfall, temperature, vegetation, hydrology and permafrost disappearance.","PeriodicalId":445439,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Issues and Sustainable Development","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-10-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128582987","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Numerical Modelling of Fouling Process in EGR System: A Review","authors":"C. Paz, E. Suárez, J. Vence, A. Cabarcos","doi":"10.5772/intechopen.93062","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.93062","url":null,"abstract":"In order to combat climate change, the new rigorous standards for pollutant reduction have shone a light on the use of exhaust gas recirculation system in order to minimize the NOx emissions of vehicles. For this reason, the fouling problem that appears on the exhaust gas recirculation line, caused by the deposition of soot particles and hydrocarbons that are part of the exhaust gas, has become particularly relevant in the last few years. In this field, researches have proposed numerical models in order to estimate and predict the deposit formation and growth. Using various numerical techniques, they intend to determine and reproduce the fouling layer buildup considering the different mechanisms that are involved in the deposit formation. This chapter provides a detailed and comprehensive account of the numerical approaches that have been proposed to analyze the fouling phenomenon that occurs inside the exhaust gas system. The main characteristics of each numerical model, as well as their main strengths and weaknesses, are exposed and evaluated, and their simulation capabilities are examined in detail.","PeriodicalId":445439,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Issues and Sustainable Development","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-07-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123471951","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Hazardous Waste Management","authors":"Harold M. Cota, David Wallenstein","doi":"10.1201/b16576-14","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1201/b16576-14","url":null,"abstract":"Waste management is one of the vital environmental issues since last few decades. It has been noted that the generation of waste increases with increasing population, industrialization and urbanization etc. The waste management strategy includes both non-hazardous and hazardous waste management. Non-hazardous waste does not cause potential threat to environment but instead hazardous waste is the waste that poses substantial or potential threats to public health and the environment. Rapidly growing industrial sector has contributed to the generation of large quantity of hazardous waste material. Therefore, to reduce environmental hazard, proper attention is required during storage, segregation, transportation and disposal of hazardous waste, because it cannot be disposed as off in the environment. This study explains about hazardous wastes, types and management.","PeriodicalId":445439,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Issues and Sustainable Development","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1991-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129660928","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}