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This practice-based research study examines two questions in an effort to determine how the photographer can play a role in the promulgation of environmental activism. Firstly, I ask if certain aesthetic approaches to the documentation of industrial pollution can be regarded as antithetical to the values of environmentalism; in particular, I examine the use of the sublime and the role that beauty plays in documenting scenes of environmental despoliation. In response to this question, I describe the problems associated with establishing a counter-aesthetic position in my artistic practice, which is commensurate with environmental ethics. Secondly, I ask how photography can be used as a means of conducting environmental protest by working in solidarity with environmental scientists and activists, in the struggle for environmental remediation. In a bid to answer this question, I argue that the production and dissemination of the photobook is one method of realising the dissensual capacity of art to bring about the conditions necessary for remediation to occur. Importantly, my practice proceeds through an understanding of debates ongoing in contemporary theory. In particular, I argue that Jacques Rancière s conceptions of dissensus (Rancière, 2010: 173) and the politics of aesthetics (Rancière, 2004: 25) can be interpreted as a means of understanding how aesthetics can be used to enact a form of political praxis. Using Rancière and Murray Bookchin s concept of social ecology as a basis for my artistic practice, I claim that photography can not only make the existent reality of pollution visible, it can also initiate a form of participatory democratic subjectivity, allowing the demands of the artist to become visible too. Moreover, in the design and dissemination of the three photobooks I have created, I make a case for a collaborative model of artistic practice, which extends beyond the medium specificity of photograph, and embraces multimodality and trans-disciplinarity, as a means of situating the photograph into a broader discursive field.

Exposure to heavy metals around the world is practically unavoidable due to their extensive use and spread in the environment. This is especially critical due to the metals’ toxicity and detrimental effects on human health. Rural inhabitants in less developed countries in Europe near industrial local polluters are especially exposed. Leachates from industrial wastes may add heavy metal pollution to surrounding groundwater aquifers. Both industrial pollution and rain runoff poses extensive risks for private wells. These wells provide a large part of the drinking water supplies for Kosovo’s inhabitants. The aim of this study is to investigate how a nickel (Ni) refining industry’s slag hill is affecting the drinking water quality in surrounding neighbours private drinking water supplies. To do this 10 samples with increasing distance from the industrial slag hill were collected and analysed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). Chromium (Cr), Ni and lead (Pb) were below guideline and limit values in the well water drinking supplies. Rain runoffs increased the concentrations of aluminium (Al), Ni and Pb, in wells where rainwater leaked in. This was however not the case for Cr. Highest Cr concentrations were found in clear (unpolluted by rain runoff) well waters, southeast of a local open pit mining area. This study shows that the Ni refinery and slag hill do not currently risk contaminating local drinking water wells above guideline and limit values. However, there are indications that local mining activity may pose a larger risk concerning Cr leakage to the private wells. Further groundwater monitoring is needed focusing on this area to investigate potential and actual sources of pollution.

This dissertation consists of three chapters on questions in Environmental Economics, addressing policy and health issues in indoor and outdoor environments. In the first chapter, I explores price and quantity policy solutions to externalities that arise from private decisions made over time, focusing on resource extraction as a specific example. In the U.S., mining causes more pollution than any other single industry. I show how tax policy can optimally address a flow externality associated with resource extraction when the policymaker faces asymmetric information in the short run. Chapter 2 investigates whether ordinary exposure to a common indoor air pollutant—Nitrogen Dioxide (NO₂)—affects respiratory health. About 40 percent of occupied homes in the U.S. use gas stoves for cooking, which produce NO₂ as a byproduct of combustion (US Census, 2006), and peak concentrations in homes may reach above 900 ppb when a gas stove is used for cooking (Dennekamp et al., 2001). Permanent or fatal lung damage occurs at NO₂ concentrations greater than 1000 ppb (Samet and Utell, 1990). Previous studies find mixed evidence of negative effects from indoor NO₂ (Basu and Samet, 1999), but exposure may be endogenous in these analyses. I address this problem by developing a physical model of indoor NO₂ concentrations that depends on ventilation decisions and housing characteristics and estimate it using data from the third wave of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. In every model I consider, I find no significant effects of gas stoves on respiratory outcomes. In the final chapter, I combine data on state and local tobacco control ordinances from Americans for Non-smokers Rights Tobacco US Tobacco Control Laws Database with a sample of 35 million births in the U.S. to examine the impact of smoking bans on birth weight and related outcomes. Using difference-in-difference techniques, I identify the effects of state bans net of local bans, as well as the effects of local bans net of state bans. The results suggest less restrictive bans do more to improve birth outcomes than “100% smokefree” bans do, particularly in urban settings. / text

<p>Tirupur is an Indian textile town which constitutes many dyeing and bleaching units situated in the upstream. Tirupur serves as one of the major exporters of textiles. The industrial pollution have affected not only the surface water but also the soils and ground water. This thesis studies the impacts of industrial pollution on agriculture and livestock. It also explores the implicated problems involved in putting an economic compensation mechanism into practise. The impact study was made on the detailed primary data collected from an intensive study of comparing a pollution affected villages located downstream of the Orathapalyam dam, Tamil Nadu, South India with a control village. The cost estimates that the impact of industrial pollution on predominant crops is quite substantial in monetary terms. This paper argues that the compensation principle might work if the assessment is done to all affected victims. Both quantifying and non quantifying benefits should be incurred in the mechanism. Further, mere passing of fines and creating institutional structures are not sufficient to address the environmental problems. Policies should be implemented in their right perspective. Institutions should be strong enough, with more autonomy and powers, to deal with problems and to monitor the RO plants in dyeing units in Tirupur.</p>

Gaseous exhaust of different industries contains dust particles of different chemical precipitates that are harmful for the environment. Electrostatic Precipitators are very often used in industries to filter their gaseous exhaust and to prevent the atmosphere to being polluted. Electrostatic Precipitators are very efficient in their work. Electrostatic Precipitators use the force of the electric field to separate the dust particles from gaseous exhaust. Electrostatic Precipitators charge the dust particles and remove these particles by attracting these charged dust particles toward the collecting plates. The charging of dust particles requires a charging zone. When gas passes through that charging zone, the dust particles in the gas stream become charged and then these charged particles are attracted toward the collecting plates. The design of an Electrostatic Precipitators requires the knowledge of its working principle and the problems that often arise during its working. This thesis is the study of the working and the problems of the Electrostatic Precipitators. The main reason for problems in working of an Electrostatic Precipitator is the dust resistivity. This dust resistivity affects the collection performance of an Electrostatic Precipitator. This thesis also contains the simulation of an Electrostatic Precipitator. In the simulation part, the Electric Potential and the Electric Field of an ESP is modeled in an ideal condition, when no gas is flowing through the ESP. The industrial software Comsol Multiphysics is used for the simulation. A Comsol Multiphysics guide is given in appendix of this thesis report that provides information about using this software.

Master's thesis. / Format: PDF. Bibl.

This research identified and evaluated possible uses of environmental monitoring data collected and reported by industrial facilities under the Clean Water Act requirements and determined whether the current regulatory system supported any of those uses. Federal policies and state-level policies in the United States, Florida, and California were evaluated in order to determine whether the current regulatory system supported any of the identified uses. Monitoring programs and currently available monitoring data were evaluated from Hillsborough County, Florida, and Los Angeles County, California, from the perspective of 1) the current implementation of the monitoring program, and 2) perfect implementation under full compliance with the monitoring program. Four possible uses for monitoring data were identified by this research: (1) identification of high polluting facilities within a given jurisdiction, (2) assessment of pollutant load to receiving waterbodies, (3) documentat ion of improvement over time in the amount of pollutants discharged from a given industrial facility, (4) self-evaluation purposes, such as identifying on-site pollutant sources, adapting pollution prevention efforts, and evaluating the monitoring protocol. The research conducted a telephone survey and evaluated industrial facilities' reported analytical monitoring data. Telephone questionnaires were administered to 63 industrial facilities, and analytical monitoring data were obtained from industrial facilities in Hillsborough County, Florida and Los Angeles County California. The representativeness, sampling frequency and variation in the industrial facilities' analytical monitoring data do not assist in the identification of high polluting facilities within a given jurisdiction nor provide for documentation of facilities' improvements. Pollutant loads to receiving watebodies can not be assessed through the use of industrial facilities' analytical monitoring data because of the sampl e measurement, variation, and sample frequency of the data. Therefore, these uses can not be supported under current implementation/current data submitted or under perfect compliance. However, the telephone survey revealed facility operators are attempting to use the results from monitoring for self evaluation purposes.

Magistro darbe tiriama paprastosios pušies (Pinus sylvestris L.) spyglių histologinės savybės pramoninės taršos poveikyje. Darbo objektas - paprastoji pušis (Pinus sylvestris L) auganti prie didžiausių Lietuvos gamyklų AB „Achema“, AB „Akmenės cementas“, AB „Mažeikių nafta“. Darbo tikslas - įvertinti spyglių histologines savybes priklausomai nuo pramoninės taršos. Darbo metodai - paprastosios pušies spyglių histologinės savybės tirtos mikroskopu. Išmatuoti paprastosios pušies spyglių audiniai: spyglio ilgis, skerspjūvio storis, skerspjūvio plotis, centinio cilindro storis, kutikulos storis, eridermio storis, hipodermos storis, adaksialinės laidžiosios parechimos storis, abaksialinės laidžiosios parencimos storis, adaksialinis mezofilo storis, abaksialinis mezofilo storis. Darbo rezultatai. Paprastosios pušies (Pinus sylvestris L.) spygliai tirti prie didžiausių Lietuvos gamyklų AB „Achema“, AB „Akmenės cementas“, AB „Mažeikių nafta“. Mezomorfine spyglių struktūra pasižymėjo pušys augančios arčiausiai AB „Mažeikių nafta“ gamyklos. Kseromorfinė struktūra pasireiškė spygliuose augančiuose AB „Akmenės cementas“ apylinkėse. / In the Science work of Master examined Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) needles. Subject of research - Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) Goal of the research - To evaluate histology of the needles of Scots pine growing at different distance from a nitrogen fertilizer factory, a cement factory, an oil refinery factory. Methodology - light microscopy of cross sections of the needles (needle thickness, needle width, adaxial mesophyll thickness, abaxial mesophyll thickness, epidermis, hypodermis, cuticle, central cylinder, parenchyma, needle lenght). Research results. Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) needles were examined near the biggest technogenic polluters (cement factory, oil refinery, nitrogen fertilizer factory) in Lithuania. The most mesomorphic structure of the needles was registered for the pines growing close to the oil refinery and the most xeromorphic structure was characteristic for the pines near the cement factory.

Neste trabalho foram inventariadas e espacializadas as emissões provenientes das principais fontes fixas de poluentes atmosféricos no Brasil, totalizando 16 unidades de refino, 1730 termoelétricas, 96 indústrias de cimento e 64 indústrias de papel e celulose. O inventário tem como ano-base 2011, porém os dados coletados variaram de acordo com a disponibilidade, entre 2008 e 2015. As termoelétricas inventariadas representam cerca de 28% da eletricidade produzida no país e compreendem usinas em funcionamento com os combustíveis gás natural, bagaço de cana-de-açúcar, óleo combustível, óleo diesel e carvão mineral, representando cerca de 94% da potência produzida pelo setor. Para o setor de papel e celulose foram inventariados mais de 95% da capacidade produtiva instalada. Os fatores de emissão aplicados nos cálculos tomam como base os valores limites propostos pela AP-42 da Agência de Proteção Ambiental dos Estados Unidos - USEPA, mas outros fatores de emissão identificados na literatura também foram incluídos de forma comparativa e serviram de parâmetros para avaliação da faixa de incerteza associada às emissões estimadas neste trabalho. Os resultados mostram que os totais estimados ficaram em 857±415 Gg/ano para o NOx, 1,51±1,23 Tg/ano para o SOx, 21,2±13,7 Tg/ano para CO, 10,4±10,1 Tg/ano para o MP, 1,14±0,95 Tg/ano para TOC e 21,2±13,7 Tg/ano para CO2. Comparados aos valores estimados para os veículos (MMA, 2011), os resultados mostram que o total estimado para a emissão de NOx foi um pouco inferior às emissões por veículos (944 Gg/ano), enquanto que para o SOx as emissões foram estimadas em mais de 300 vezes as emissões veiculares (cerca de 5 Gg/ano). As estimativas para CO ficaram em cerca de 17 vezes as emissões veiculares enquanto que o MP estimado ficou em cerca de 360 vezes as emissões por veículos e as emissões de TOC ficaram em cerca de cinco vezes as emissões estimadas para veículos. As estimativas para emissão de CO2 ficaram em cerca de três vezes as emissões veiculares. Mesmo quando são considerados os limites inferiores nas estimativas para as fontes fixas, a contribuição ainda continua expressiva, com o NOx sendo o único poluente que praticamente seria superado pelas emissões veiculares. Os resultados encontrados neste trabalho demonstram definitivamente que as emissões atmosféricas por fontes fixas para o Brasil têm papel fundamental na concentração de poluentes atmosféricos e devem ser integradas aos cenários de estudos de modelagem da qualidade do ar ou do impacto na saúde, bem como à definição de políticas para a área de qualidade do ar. / Atmospheric emissions for major stationary sources of pollutants in Brazil were inventoried and spatially distributed in this work. The developed inventory comprises a total of 16 refining units, 1730 thermoelectric power plants, 96 cement industries and 64 pulp and paper industries. The inventory is to base year 2011 but the data collected vary according to availability, between 2008 and 2015.The inventoried power plants represent about 28% of the electricity generated in Brazil, including as fuel natural gas, sugarcane bagasse, residual fuel oil, diesel oil and coal, representing about 94% of the electricity produced by the sector. For the pulp and paper industrial sector, the inventory comprises over 95% of installed capacity. The limits proposed by the AP-42 standards of the US Environmental Protection Agency – USEPA to the emission factors were applied in the calculations. Additional emission factors identified in the scientific literature were also included in the analysis as parameters for evaluation the range of uncertainty associated with the estimated emissions. The results show values of 857±415 Gg/year for NOx, 1,51±1,23 Tg/year for SOx, 21,2±13,7 Tg/year for CO, 10,4±10,1 Tg/year for MP, 1,14±0,95 Tg/year for TOC and 21,2±13,7 Tg/year for CO2. In comparison with values estimated for vehicles (MMA, 2011), the results show that the total estimated for NOx emissions was slightly lower than emissions from vehicles (944 Gg / year), while for the SOx the emissions were estimated to be more than 300 times vehicular emissions (about 5 Gg / year). For CO the estimated emissions were about 17 times the vehicle emissions, while for PM the estimated values were about 360 times the emissions estimated for vehicles. TOC emissions were about five times the estimated vehicle emissions. The estimated emissions for CO2 were about three times the vehicular emissions. Even when the lower limits of the emission factors are assumed, the contribution by stationary sources are still significant, with NOx being the only pollutant that would be overcome by vehicle emissions. The findings of this study clearly show that atmospheric emissions from stationary sources play a fundamental role in determining the concentration of air pollutants in Brazil. Any numerical scenario designed for air quality studies and to evaluate the impact on health, or even the definition of new policies related to the subject, need to include this new inventory in the scope.