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In May 2013 the UN Environment Programme's Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants agreed to ban the widely-used flame retardant Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD), following evidence that there may be harmful human exposure. Since the Convention came into force in 2004, only 21 compounds have had their use either banned or tightly restricted under its terms. Research findings from Stuart Harrad and his group at the University of Birmingham formed a significant element of the case used to support the ban on HBCD. Harrad's group provided the first measurements made anywhere in the world on concentrations of individual HBCD isomers in indoor dust leading to the realisation that the ingestion of indoor dust was a significant pathway of human exposure to HBCD. The group has also contributed important evidence of the capacity of HBCD to bioaccumulate and of its environmental persistence.
UK and international government departments, agencies and the nuclear industry have benefitted from improved understanding of environmental radioactivity and the development of novel, in situ gamma spectroscopy by researchers at the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (SUERC, University of Glasgow). The provision of advice and novel data has helped to develop management, monitoring, regulation and human dose assessments for authorised and accidental releases of radionuclides, and to build plans for geological disposal facilities for high and intermediate level radioactive waste.
The science conducted in environmental radioactivity and radioecology ranges from the development and deployment of detection systems to the characterisation and implementation of radiological risk assessment tools. This has led to impacts in international standards, regulation development and regulation enforcement, including: advising the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) on hot particle hazard, risk, detection and recovery; developing the framework for environmental protection through the International Commission on Radiological Protection; developing standard specifications for the manufacture of environmental monitoring equipment for the International Electrotechnical Commission; and providing training courses through the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The development and marketing of the Chemcatcher passive sampler has significantly improved the way water quality is monitored. These cost-effective devices are either used alongside or can replace established approaches that rely on infrequent spot or bottle sampling. We have contributed to the development of national and international standards for the use of passive samplers, and the dissemination of results to end users has facilitated the uptake of passive sampling technology worldwide. Our passive samplers have been used to monitor a diverse range of environmental problems, from pharmaceuticals in drinking water to the release of radioactive caesium after the Fukushima nuclear reactor incident in Japan.
Mercury is extremely toxic and there is a worldwide need to limit its use and manage redundant stocks. Diverse research in the UoA on mercury in the environment led to a knowledge-exchange initiative: `Integrating Knowledge to Inform Mercury Policy' (IKIMP). Since 2009, IKIMP's policy briefings and reports have had a significant impact on mercury policy at UK, European and global levels. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) adopted IKIMP's decision-making framework to help countries deal with their redundant mercury. Defra used IKIMP reports to communicate the UK's position on mercury issues at EU and international levels, and IKIMP has influenced UNEP's development of the Minamata Convention, the international, legally-binding convention to limit mercury use agreed in 2013.
Science has guided national dryland policy in Africa through approaches that have omitted local knowledge, and has informed international policy through implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), previously developed by a Roster of Experts. Our national and district-level research in Botswana has identified routes to increase community involvement in degradation monitoring, and our strategies have been rolled out nationally via agricultural extension workers, allowing knowledge to inform farming practices and land policy. Our analysis of the wider international context has led us to propose new science-to-policy pathways that have allowed the UNCCD to draw more effectively upon both local and scientific evidence.
Plymouth University was the first to develop methods for identifying supercomplex `unresolved complex mixtures' of organic chemicals, including naphthenic acids. The chemicals are of particular environmental concern (e.g. in Canada because of their production during exploitation of the oil sands and globally as they result from spillages of petroleum such as in the Deepwater Horizon spill). The methods are now used by government agencies such as Environment Canada to monitor naphthenic acid pollutants. A consortium of international oil industries (e.g., BP, Chevron, Total) also now use Rowland's data to model oil pipeline blockage problems.
The Green Guide to Specification is an environmental profiling system that enables designers and constructors to select building materials and components which have the lowest environmental impact. Designed and developed at Oxford Brookes University, the Green Guide methodology provides the construction industry with reliable environmental evaluations based on quantitative Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) data. Now in its 4th edition and part of the BREEAM and Code for Sustainable Homes programmes, Green Guide has been used to reduce environmental impacts for over 230,000 recorded construction projects, with a further 1.07 million projects registered awaiting certification worldwide. In 2009, the Green Guide was adopted as the official design standard for all construction materials used in the London 2012 Olympics.
Environmental management decisions are frequently based on records of environmental change recovered from natural archives such as lake sediments. Key to deciphering these records is a reliable technique for dating sediment sequences. Researchers in the Liverpool University Mathematical Sciences Department have played a major role in the development of dating techniques using natural (210Pb) and artificial (137Cs) fallout radionuclides. Working with environmental scientists they have been responsible for the implementation of these techniques in research programs that have resulted in national and international controls on e.g. emissions from power stations, the use of persistent organic pollutants and climate change. In particular, the US National Parks Service (NPS) is using their research to monitor pollution levels at sensitive locations in their National Parks and this research has also been a key factor in the UN decision in 2011 to ban the widely-used insecticide Endosulfan. Their research also enabled the NPS in 2012 to identify the most effective solution for marsh restoration off Long Island, New York, resulting in a considerable financial saving to the NPS; and finally their research on pollutants in the Norfolk Broads has led to the current campaign by the Broads Authority to promote environmentally friendly anti-fouling paints.
Research by Professor Maltby's group quantified the ecological impacts of contaminants draining off road surfaces into surface waters, revealing the importance of particulate-bound toxicants. We identified the key toxicants involved, the concentration thresholds at which they pose significant risks, and established the extent and the conditions under which they are harmful. These advances provided the scientific underpinning for the Highways Agency's revised (2009) guidance on environmental impact and assessment of road drainage, and it's Water Risk Assessment Tool. Our research has led to significant cost savings, and much improved targetting for monitoring and protecting the environment. The Highways Agency guidance and risk assessment tool has been adopted by the Devolved Administrations in Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland and other EU and non-EU countries, and has been applied to projects worth over £65m in the UK since 2010.