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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.
This impact case study describes major public communication activities by Professor Jim Smith on the immediate and long-term consequences of the Fukushima accident through radio, television, print and internet media. During the weeks after Fukushima, Smith made a key contribution to the developing scientific understanding of the likely consequences of the accident and to the worldwide dissemination of that understanding. This made a documented improvement to international news agencies' coverage of the event (Evidence 2, 4, 5) and "helped elevate and inform the debate" on the risks and consequences of nuclear power (Evidence 2).
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.
Global waste disposal strategies and chemical regulations have been transformed through LEC's world-leading research into the environmental sources, fate and behaviour of persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Firstly, our research has directly supported controlled high temperature incineration as a long-term option for the disposal of municipal waste, by showing that well regulated incineration is not an environmentally significant source of dioxin emissions. Secondly, our research has maintained the controlled utilisation of sewage sludge (biosolids) on agricultural land as an effective risk-based management solution that re-cycles valuable carbon and nutrients to soil. Our research has underpinned the development of the UK's Dioxin Strategy and supported international chemicals regulation for one of the most important global flame retardant chemicals in current use under the Stockholm Convention.
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.
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.
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.
New analytical methods have been used in commercial applications for the 2012 Olympic Park to measure petroleum hydrocarbons in soil. Cranfield developed techniques, in collaboration with Eurofins, to meet the needs for contaminated land risk assessment and enable the selection of remediation strategies. Decision-support tools were developed for risk management and environmental rehabilitation of contaminated sites. The tools contribute to end-user confidence in remediation technology, reduced remediation costs and minimised waste disposal to landfill with subsequent savings in CO2 emissions. Our research laid a road map to demonstrate risk reduction and provided practical and cost efficient soil quality management tools.
Since 1994 the university's Agriculture and Environment Research Unit has undertaken an extensive programme of research on the environmental impacts of agriculture. This has been instrumental in providing agricultural practitioners, policy makers and researchers from around the world with a range of tools that have helped to deliver agri-environmental policy objectives on farms. These tools have aided farmers in improving their environmental performance, provided evidence to support policy objectives, and helped improve the accuracy and comparability of environmental risk assessments.