Seattle - Tacoma International Airport - Self Organization

I have addressed environmental issues, including climate change and those around the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, in a variety of blog articles.  These are listed below.

Self organization and complexity are important structures in considering how advanced systems develop.  The region around the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, among others, is a self organizing environment reflecting environmental factors in the area, including it's Carbon footprint.

Previous blog articles have discussed the environmental issues around the Seattle Tacoma International Airport.  In Seattle-Tacoma International Airport - Environmental Issues
I discuss an FAA study, Aviation and Emissions, a Primer. According to that study, about ten percent (10%) of aircraft emissions, except for carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons occur at ground level or during take off and landing.  However, thirty percent (30%) of carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon emissions from aircraft occur during ground level emissions.

Iron Oxide reacts with Carbon Monoxide, at high temperatures, to produce Carbon Dioxide and Iron.  Does this impact the levels of carbon dioxide in the vicinity of the Seattle Tacoma International Airport (and especially in low lying areas where there may be a pooling or sinking of Carbon Monoxide)?  That is an interesting question, among others, in examining the distribution of the Carbon footprint in Washington State and other areas, and in what form Carbon might appear.

marilyndunstan.blogspot.com
Externalities and Risk - The Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport - Environmental Issues
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport - Pollution

Climate Change and Carbon 

Climate Change and Global Health

World Health Organization Report on Air Pollution and Health

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport - Medical Issues
 

 

Our Nuclear Future - Hanford and Spent Nuclear Fuel

Hanford Site, Washington

This nation depends on nuclear energy for a great deal of it's power generation.  Indeed, as we see the Polar Pioneer take off for marginal Chukchi Sea, we note the difficulties faced by our declining resources and the issue of Peak Oil.

How can a world which depends on energy to operate gain power generation resources when there are so many demands, both by developed countries who have already built up a large demand for resources, and by developing nations, in areas such as Africa and Asia, where demands for energy resources will increase with industrialization and commercialization.

I have already discussed some of the issues posed by the Polar Pioneer in my recent blog article. It is clear that there are many risks in oil drilling as we seek to drill at greater and greater depths, in locations where the risk is greater, such as the Chukchi Sea between Alaska and Russia, and engage in practices such as fracking which present their own risks.

My previous blog article, "Energy Choices and Risk", following the Fukushima Disaster on 3/11/2011, discusses some of the emerging risks. Hydroelectric power is a major source of energy which meets much of the energy generation needs in the Pacific Northwest.  Climate change and global warming impact the generation of hydroelectric power and water resources.  Declining glaciers and mountain snow impact climate change and global warming through a positive feedback mechanism as the lower snow pack decreases the albedo through lower reflectivity in the mountain snow pack.

Alternative energy choices are increasingly being considered.  These include biofuels, wind power and solar power.  Can these alternative energy sources meet the bulk of our needs for energy consumption? They can help mitigate the demand for energy but cannot completely fill it. Would filling the planet's surface with wind generators disturb our meteorological balance?  Would over use of solar panels mean that solar energy is diverted into household appliances rather than photosynthesis? To what extent can we generate energy without disturbing other entities within our environment, beyond a de minimus impact?  We do not know the answers to many of these questions.

 I have discussed issues of low probability, high impact risks in conjunction with Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima in my blog article "Energy Choices and Risk".

While large scale accidents see significant press coverage (and they should), those who have studied, researched or worked in the nuclear industry have compelling stories about how exposures have impacted their lives in many ways.  Many others, through occupational exposures not directly related to the nuclear industry may also have been impacted in many ways and to various degrees.

However, occupational exposure is not the whole story; many others, in various walks of life, have been exposed to radiation or other environmental risk in a number of ways.  These individuals may include family members of those having occupational exposure, those living in down wind areas, those transiting through areas with exposure, and those who may be handling product that might have some radiological contamination, and many more. It is clear that those with non-occupational exposures must be cared for just as those with occupational exposures are cared for. The impact of radiation on the populace is an externality issue.

Radiation released into the atmosphere is carried downwind; radiation released into water is carried with the currents.  Radiation released into materials is carried with those materials. Radiation will follow its decay path, which varies with the radionuclide.  One may consider bananas, which are high in potassium, and carry the naturally radioactive element Potassium 40 at low levels.  Every time we carry bananas from the store to our home we carry some (low level) amount of radioactivity with us.  Believe it or not, radiation from bananas is expressed as a "banana equivalent dose", about 0.1 micro-sievert, at least on Wikipedia.

The impact of exposure to radiation is a serious one involving physiological and psychological issues.

Dr Yuri Yablokov's work, "Consequences of the Catastophe for People and the Environment" is an extensive body of work by the Russian Scientist who reported to Mikhail Gorbachev. Dr Yablokov has provided probably the most complete body of work relating to the impact of Chernobyl on people and on the environment.

The Marshall Islands is but one example of an area where nuclear testing has impacted residents. Sixty years later there are still impacts as indicated by this article in The Guardian.

Nevada and New Mexico have a history of atomic testing where test sites and downwind areas have been impacted..  My article on the site of the first atomic test, the initial Trinity nuclear test in New Mexico, discusses these issues.

There are a garden variety of risks along a risk spectrum surrounding the use of nuclear energy.  Risk studies for the Indian Point Reactor at Buchanan, New York, consider a variety of factors: This study takes into account information from the Chernobyl and Fukushima events.

Wikipedia lists some incidents at Indian Point Reactor. To what degree have radiation incidents at Indian Point impacted the surrounding industries and the neighboring communities?  To what extent was a gypsum plant just south of the Indian Point Reactor exposed by incidents at Indian Point?  This is a matter for further investigation.  Gypsum is used in many applications, including in wallboard. Could radioactivity could have traveled from a point of origin in Buchanan, New York, via trucks, trains, vessels or aircraft to residential and commercials interiors: bedroom, kitchen and bathroom walls all over the world?  Can we know the answer to these questions? Certainly we would need to answer these questions in assessing future risks where industrial and other activities are carried about in areas contiguous to nuclear facilities.

According to the Indian Point Report: "Also note that these calculations were performed for a hypothetical accident at only one of Indian Point’s two operating reactors, and the accident scenarios did not involve radiation release from the spent fuel pools, unlike for Fukushima, which was a multi-unit accident with damage to spent nuclear fuel storage. " states one section of the document.

A continuing issue is the handling of spent nuclear fuel.  This is an increasing issue as the amount of spent nuclear fuel, especially that containing plutonium, increases.

A March 18, 2011, article in the Seattle Times discusses the use of MOX plutonium fuel at Hanford.

Nuclear waste may be stored, for example at Tank Farms, for example, at Hanford Tank Farms, or in Dry Cask Storage or at deep geological repositories such as the Carlsbad Waste Isolation Storage Plant in New Mexico.  Yucca Mountain was designated as a deep geological depository for the storage of high level nuclear waste and spent nuclear fuel.

Nuclear waste can be processed in various ways, for example via vitrification at the Vitrification Plant at Hanford and potentially transported elsewhere for long term storage.  The storage and processing of spent nuclear fuel has thus been the subject of extensive debate.  Many of these storage methods involve keeping the isotopes in their original processed state, so that many long lived isotopes are stored in what is an accumulating storage of spent nuclear fuel.

Nuclear fuel can also be processed in a reactor.  This processing allows for isotopes with higher levels of radioactivity, to be processed down their decay chain, reducing the level of radioactivity while producing power, and thus reducing the level of radioactivity in the spent fuel that has to be stored.  This methodology, which is referred to in the March 18, 2011 article in the Seattle Times, has its own risks.  Risks include the risk of nuclear accident while reprocessing the fuel, escape of containment and risks involved in transporting the nuclear spent fuel from the sites at which it is being processed to the sites where it is reprocessed (Hanford Power Plant).

These risks include many of the same issues discussed above regarding the Indian Point plant. There are longer terms risks as well, which involve how to use the potential energy stored in the radionuclide's decay chain; whether it should be used immediately to generate power or whether it should be put back in the ground to be available for later use, or whether there is some planetary need relating to global warming and climate change that should dictate its usage.  That is a matter of continuing discussion.  There is a considerable continuum of risk involved in studying this issue of nuclear waste.

Dr Yablokov's work on Chernobyl illustrates this risk in a very powerful way.  Many areas could potentially be impacted, including the Palouse of Washington, the Seattle Area, and the Washington and Oregon Coasts.

I heard Dr Yablokov speak on "Chernobyl 25 Years Later: Lessons Learned" on March 28, 2011 at the University of Washington, at Kane Hall about his experiences dealing with that nuclear disaster. It was quite an experience.

Nuclear power plants also pose financial risk.  I address this issue in my blog post,
Energy Choices and Risk.  This issue is a matter of continuing investigation as we look towards issues of financial risk management, and the cost of externalities as imposed on society and individuals.


marilyndunstan.photoshelter.com

Hanford 
Palouse
Seattle
Washington Coast
Oregon Coast

Hanford - Use of Plutonium Fuel
Indian Point Energy Plant
Marshall Islands Nuclear Testing Legacy
Consequences of the Catastrophe for People and the Environment - Dr Yablokov
Seattle Times - Plutonium Fuel Could be Used at Hanford Power Plant

Wikipedia:
Indian Point Energy Center
Radiation
Hydraulic Fracturing
Banana Equivalent Dose
Carlsbad Waste Isolation Storage Plant
Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Depository

marilyndunstan.blogspot.com
Externalities
Chernobyl 25th anniversary 
Energy Choices and Risk
Global Warming and Climate Change-Polar Pioneer
Processing Risk and Uncertainty
Log in the Surf - 8.9 Japan Earthquake (9.0 updated)

Nuclear Regulatory Commission - Dry Cask Storage

Senescence

Gingko Biloba Tree

Senescence is the process of growing old, or aging.  Senescence can refer to a process that occurs on many different levels, from cellular levels, to the whole body level, to higher organizational levels and including physical and psychological structures.

Aging occurs at different rates and different times in different life forms.  Senescence is directly or indirectly a major cause of death.  Senescence may reflect underlying biological processes, mediated by gene expression, can reflect programmed cell death and can be accelerated by environmental factors, such as exposure to radiation.

My 2014 blog article discusses senescence in  the Gingko Biloba Tree, a living fossil dating back to the Permian era (270 million years ago), which exhibits clonal reproduction.  Natural leaf senescence in the Gingko Biloba has been researched in male and female trees, with regards to impacts of reactive species and anti-oxidants on the rates of senescence.

Senescene on a cellular level, expressed as replicative senescence, reflects a cell's attainment of the Hayflick limit.  The Hayflick limit refers to a limit on the shortening of DNA telomeres,  which cap the ends of the DNA strands.  As the cell divides, it loses telomeres in the division process.  The Hayflick limit reflects the end of the telomere line, at which point the cell becomes senescent.  Senescence is accelerated by exposure to reactive oxygen species,  exposure to oncogenes, and to cell to cell fusion, a process where cells join to form what is callled a 'syncytium'.  I discuss a number of the processes that may encourage the early development of senescence in other blog articles, listed below.

Exposure to radiation generates reactive species.  This can include anything from high energy ionizing radiation which liberates electrons from atoms and molecules, to non-ionizing radiation.   Ionizing radiation may include cosmic and gamma rays and some ultraviolet wavelengths.  Geomagnetic storms may result in increased exposure to high energy particles, as would exposure to nuclear radiation.

Non-ionizing radiation includes radar microwaves and those used by cell phones, which can disturb lymphocytes  in rats. Some ultraviolet wavelengths including UVA, UVB and UVC are non-ionizing. Disturbances in the Ozone layer result in increased ultraviolet exposure, with the Antarctic having historically greater ozone depletion than the Arctic. 

 Reactive species can be produced through natural bodily process, in Oxidative Phosphorylation (OXPHOS), in the production of Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) through mitochondrial processes.  The Metabolic Theory of ecology deals with these issues. It reflects Kleiber's Law which relates metabolism to body weight .  I discuss these issues in my blog on "The Odd Couple - The Mitochondria and the Cell Nucleus", where cellular processes are both exposed to and create oxygen radicals.  This article also discusses other sources of reactive species, including pollutants, chemicals and toxins.

Exposure to oncogenes can also lead to senescense.  Oncogenes can arise from a variety of sources, including potentially avian sources which operate within our body's innate and adaptive immune system transcription factors.

Induction of cell-cell fusion, as occurs in syncytium, can also lead to senescence.  Syncytium can form in protists such as rhizarians, in fungi, in heart muscle and skeletal muscle, and, importantly, in the placenta where they take on a meaning relating to group immunity systems, as discussed in my blog article.  The heart is a critical organ in the human body and tests such as the Cardiac MRI Adenosine Stress Test (using a gadolinium contrast agent) tests the ability of the heart to act "in sync".

 Adenosine is an important nucleoside which modulates a variety of important physiological processes, including heart activity, and as an important moderator of the sleep-wakefulness cycle. Caffeine is an antagonist of adenosine receptors in the brain.  The action of Adenosine is also impacted by theophylline (found in tea) and theobromine (found in chocolate). Adenosine is an inhibitor of the central nervous system and relaxes the heart muscle.  Adenosine also increases hair thickness.  The modulation of adenosine may be related to senescence.

Organismal senescence is a decline in the ability of the organism to respond to stress, and an increase in various symptoms characteristic of aging, including a decline in homeostasis, the ability of the body to respond to various cues.  Alzheimer's Disease is one condition which may be associated with senescence, and may relate to various environmental factors as discussed in my blog article.

Senescence can be mitigated through increased exposure to anti-oxidants, which can be obtained through certain foods (e.g. blueberries are a food high in anti-oxidants),  and internally through transcription factors such as superoxide dismutase.

Senescence may be impacted by a variety of processes germane to environmental issues relating to climate change and global warming, including natural processes and anthropogenic forcing (originating in human activity).  These processes may all impact factors germane to reactive oxygen species and anti-oxidants.

Bacillus Anthracis Issues

The CDC is investigating an unintentional release of anthrax  from the Department of Defense (DOD) to multiple labs in multiple states.  An article from Voice of America indicates 24 labs in 11 states and 2 countries (South Korea and Australia) have received "suspect samples" of concern.

Anthrax has quite a history, both in its naturally occuring state and as a biological weapon, as documented by the Center for Disease Control (CDC).  There have been a number of anthrax "releases" over time,  Recently, in 2014 there was a release at CDC's Roybal Campus .  The year 2001 saw a wave of anthrax attacks.  A CDC review discusses the 2001 attacks in some detail as well as discussing epidemiological findings. and provides a history of anthrax., both in a naturally occurring state and as a biological weapon.

One interesting development has been the appearance of bacillus anthracis in heroin used by European drug users.  The strain involved originated in Turkey, raising a question as to how bacillus anthracis would get into the heroin supply.

The CDC provides basic information on Bacillus Anthracis.  The bacteria Bacillus Anthracis exists in a dormant, sporulated state in nature, can enter the body by a variety of routes (e.g. cutaneous or inhalation pathways), become activated, spread throughout the body, multiply and produce toxins.

These incidents all represent an interesting pattern in the release of bacillus anthracis into the biosphere, taking into consideration emerging environmental issues regarding climate change.  The question is to what extent the environment adapts or reacts to environmental challenges thrown its way.

As this CDC case investigation indicates, it is difficult to investigate individual cases of anthrax when they occur.  Human cases of anthrax are rare, despite the fact that Bacillus Anthracis can be found naturally in the soil and commonly infects domestic and wild animals throughout the world.  There may be a number of reasons for this apparent paradox, which is under investigation.

My blog article "Panspermia and Evolution" discusses Bacillus Anthracis and the distribution of life in the context of extreme environments.  These are the types of situations involving low probability, high impact events.

Bacillus Anthracis is mentioned in a few of my blog articles, "Evolution of Adaptive Immunity" and in an article on "Ebola".

Bacillus Anthracis needs oxygen in order to sporulate.. This is a very interesting characteristic that may provide clues to it's activity, especially in the human body. Iron is a key element in the human body, intimately associated with a number of metabolic processes, including its role in hemoglobin and the delivery of oxygen throughout the body.

Indeed, Bacillus Anthracis uptakes iron when exposed to superoxide stress.   Bacillus anthracis experiences rapid sporulation in a high iron, glucose free environment.  Apparently, Bacillus Anthracis may operate as a signaling mechanism triggering iron accumulation when exposed to environmental stresses, impacting the iron catalyst of the  Fenton reaction.

Transferrin blocks growth of Bacillus Anthracis via iron deprivation, an effect that is differentially expressed in cutaneous anthrax vs inhalational anthrax. This difference, in the latter case, is due to phagocytosis by macrophages, a process which occurs upon inhalation, allowing the inhaled spores to germinate intracellularly, multiply and cause infection.

It is apparent that Bacillus Anthracis forms the heart of a mystery, a challenge, as we seek to better understand the manner in which it expresses, affecting a number of medical processes in the human body. At the same time, we examine other issues impacting society on a global level, issues of climate change, global warming and their interactions with the changing environment in which we live.  These issues will be discussed in further blog articles.

Center for Disease Control (CDC):
  CDC Investigating unintentional DoD shipment of anthrax
  Anthrax
  A History of Anthrax
  CDC Director Releases After-Action Report on Recent Anthrax Incident
  CDC Responds to Anthrax - 2001
  Review of Fall 2001 Anthrax Bioattacks
  Injectional Anthrax in Heroin Users - 2000 -2012
  Anthrax - Basics
  Investigation of Inhalational Anthrax Case - United States

Voice of America -"Carter Vows to Find Those Responsible for Anthrax Shipment"

American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) - Anthrax FAQ

marilyndunstan.blogspot.com
   Panspermia and Evolution
   Evolution of Adaptive Immunity
   Ebola

Medical Microbiology - Bacillus
Journal of Bacteriology - Cellular Iron Distribution in Bacillus Anthracis
Journal of Microbiological Methods - Rapid Sporulation of Bacillus Anthracis in a high iron-glucose free media
Journal Biological Chemistry - Human Transferrin Confers Serum Resistance Against Bacillus anthracis

IUPAC - Gold Book - Fenton Reaction

Wikipedia:
  Oxidative Stress
  Phagocytosis
  Macrophage

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport - Medical Issues

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Third Runway,Sea Tac, Washington

Examination of the impact of the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on the region poses a number of analytic challenges.  In a previous blog article, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport - Pollution, I discussed pollution issues.  Links to my other blog issues on the airport may be found listed below.

The focus of this blog article is on health related issues which may be related to airport operations, keeping in mind that there are other sources of pollution that may contribute to health conditions, and that there are factors other than environmental conditions which may contribute to health conditions.

Other sources of pollution may include vehicular traffic, such as cars, trucks, vans, buses and rail systems, as well as industry and commerce as well as other human activity such as wood burning. Many factors, in addition to pollutants, contribute to health.  Economic and sociological factors such as poverty, education and disenfranchisement all are factors which influence health.

There is considerable information available from the King County Health Department on the geographical distribution of various medical conditions.  These are listed below. Incidences of cancer, respiratory disease, cardiac and pulmonary heart conditions vary throughout the county.

MEDICAL ISSUES

Known

• A number of medical conditions may be impacted by environmental factors, including cancer, respiratory/pulmonary,sleep disorders,  blood/vascular disorders, immune system disorders, cardiac disorders and neurological/psychiatric/psychological issues that can emerge as a result of increased environmental exposure. The impact of air pollution on the generation of reactive species such as oxygen and other radicals may also adversely impact sleep states.
• Environmental pollutants often increase generation of reactive species or oxygen radicals, increasing oxidative stress, impacting a number of medical conditions, and may create new ones.
• Electromagnetic fields (microwaves) - Potential effects vary according to the distance from the source with general public exposure lessened.  Health effects studied include cancer, physiological and thermoregulatory responses, reproductive issues, cataracts, and impacts on calcium ion mobility.  Effects have not been sufficiently established to be able to determine regulatory standards.
• Studies have been made by the Washington State Department of Health on glioblastoma multiforme and other conditions.
• A February 25, 1999 report from the State Health Department and King County Health Department indicates: "While the state health department found that the occurrence of all SeaTac Concerned Citizen cancers in the area within 5 miles of the airport was less than expected in comparison to King County, the Seattle-King County health assessment found an increase in cancer deaths around SeaTac Airport."  This study examines health issues in the neighboring communities around the airport.
• There are extensive studies from the King County Department of Public Health available regarding a variety of health and socioeconomic factors for the communities in King County. These reports indicate increased incidence of cancer and pulmonary disease, but decreased risk of heart attack, stroke and Alzheimers relative to other areas.  There is also a higher degree of cigarette smoking in the region, complicating analysis.  There is a range of socioeconomic indicators showing lower socioeconomic indicators in the region.

Past Legacy

• One of the cardinal features of evolution is the incorporation of biologicals and minerals into a system in order to advance features that have evolutionary advantage.  This is called biomineralization.  It is not inconceivable that out of the many molecules emitted through airport operations (and other sources throughout the region), that one in the witches brew of combinations might find a home within the human body, evolving the system, or throwing a monkey wrench into it. Calcite enabled the creation of the eye in trilobytes  in the pre-Cambrian.  However a serious problem in this process is the issue of interoperability between systems in such processes.
• To what extent does the ground on which we sit impact health?  The area holds the legacy of the ASARCO Tacoma Smelter Plume  formed in 1899, and the emissions since that period.  This legacy impacts rock, soil, water and air.  The Seattle-Tacoma International airport sits on a considerable amount of fill, which is in addition any deposition that may have fell on the underlying soil.  Other parts of the region may also have been impacted by sand, rock and gravel transported from sites more heavily impacted by the ASARCO Smelter's operations.
• The airport sits on Fraser Glaciation,  Vashon Stade.  To what extent do the rocks around the airport and the water affect health? It is possible that the area of the airport could hold some clue to past evolution.  A sloth was discovered in a swampy area north of the airport in 1961, and a mammoth tusk was discovered in the South Lake Union area of Seattle. Both sit at the Burke Museum.  DNA analysis from an archaeological find could perhaps provide scientists with clues to help solve emerging problems germane to our evolution and our ancestors.

Emerging or Unknown

• The emergence of new and novel health risks may occur in the witch's brew of chemical soup surrounding the airport and other areas subject to environmental risk. Illnesses that normally occur in other areas of the world may emerge in this arena, given the geological milieu in which the airport sits, the meteorological conditions, and the increased levels of pollutants, including carbon dioxide.  Carbon dioxide is a sensitive indicator of global warming and climate change and may also impact the respiratory system in a similar fashion in the immediate neighborhood of the airport.
• Seasonal flu and emerging viruses, could recombine in the environment surrounding the airport, mixing human and bird migration patterns with environmental factors impacting local populations.  Thus viruses could serve as a vector for the incorporation of novel or emerging features resulting from the witches brew of chemicals.
• Chemicals emitted in the witches brew of chemical emitted from airport operations could be impacted by solar radiation, a source of energy, especially during periods of geomagnetic storms.  Potentially subatomic collisions could evoke a transitional state in molecules, and be incorporated into the body.  Any impact from the creation of transitional molecules would be in addition to any direct effect from any solar storms.
• The witches brew of chemicals emitted by air transport, given the power, acceleration, deceleration and forces put on aircraft engines, abrasion, means that more exotic chemicals may be created.  However, it is possible that similar types of reactions may also be occurring in different parts of the region, perhaps to a different extent.

Establishing Correlations between Pollutants and Medical Conditions

• While some pollutants in particular are points of focus, the extensive lists provided make it difficult to correlate exposures to any one or any combination of health outcomes.  This is an issue of multiple correlation analysis in the face of numerous variables and outcomes, many of which may interact with each other to alter individual correlation between any two variables. 
• Analysis of risk focuses on cancer metrics.  While the emergence of the cancer risk is important (and critical), identification of other outcomes is also important. Early indicators of future outcomes may serve as helpful markers of environmental distress before its impact becomes too severe.
• Environmental markers might include blood coagulation measurements, markers for the impact of oxidative stress, markes for nuclear DNA and mtDNA damage, and markers for the preference of glycolysis in cells (Warburg Hypothesis), among other things.
• Categorization of medical systems, or medical coding, puts medical conditions in "boxes" which may make analysis difficult when causes and/or outcomes cross boundaries, medical conditions are inappropriately categorized or new information informs medicine.
• The division of conditions into physiological versus psychological causes presents such difficulties, especially when these conditions are subject to such a wide disparity of treatment throughout the existing sociological framework. The bifurcation of conditions into physiological versus behavioral outcomes tends to create categories that diminish or ignore the health and sociological impact of pollution exposure and/or cross category lines.
• Some indices that represent psychological stress may combine various psychological indicators in a weighting formula that may impede the ability to do correlation analysis on any one factor. One is left with memories of Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle", a book about meat packing plants, wondering how the whole was constructed from the parts.   Thus, the question remains in indices and tests as to whether the manner in which the indices are constructed drive a certain result or whether indices keep pace with changes in their individual components.
• Occupational and environmental health outcomes are not appropriately measured in a manner that can express the full continuum of types of work that exists in the sociological sphere.  This reflects the existing dysfunctional definitions of work and disability, and impacts correlation analysis between occupational and environmental health.
• Medical fields studying intersecting fields of study, such as neurology, psychiatry and psychology can come into conflict at times, making it more difficult to study health outcomes emerging from environmental factors. 
• Definitions based on subjective issues such as behavior and, belief systems, emerge to complicate the analysis of the impacts of environmental pollutants.
• The drive to cut medical costs conflicts with testing the impacts of increased environmental load on the public, leaving the impacts uncertain and placing the burden on those impacted. 
• Increased population and economic activity has impacted Western Washington so that environmental risk exists in many places throughout the region, to varying degree.
• The medical system currently does not provide sufficient support to provide both testing and treatment of medical conditions which may arise from the increased exposure to environmental pathogens. There are barriers to entry into the medical system which impede the ability to measure outcomes and protect human test subjects in the evolutionary process.
• Assessment of different contributors to morbidity and mortality may confound research into the underlying environmental issues.  An example of this is assessing the contribution of smoking to morbidity and mortality versus the environmental effects caused by airport operations.
• Different statistical measures may be used by reports, confusing the reader or making it difficult to interpret data shown in different forms;  Data may be presented with an incidence rate (occurrence of a condition in a population over a period of time), a prevalence rate (percentage of a population having a condition at a specific period of time) or mortality rate (percentage of deaths in a population over a period of time).  The US Government publishes data on morbidity and mortality .

The challenge is to put together to what extent the environmental factors drive the medical and  socioeconomic factors and are in turn influenced by them, in a positive feedback loop.

Sources:
Puget Sound Clean Air Agency - Final Report - Puget Sound Air Toxics Evaluation - October 2003
Department of Ecology - Toxic Cleanup Program (ASARCO Smelter Plume)
World Health Organization - Electromagnetic Fields
Port of Seattle - Part 150 Study
Port of Seattle - Groundwater Monitoring
Port of Seattle - Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan
Scandanavian Journal of Health - Glioblastoma Multiforme
Tacoma Smelter Plume Information - Washington Department of Ecology
King County Community Health Indicators - King County (Top 10 Leading Causes of Death)
King County Public Health -School District Health Profiles
King County Health Profile
King County Public Health - Data and Reports

Blog Articles:
Externalities and Risk - The Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport - Environmental Issues
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport - Pollution

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport - Pollution

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Third Runway,Sea Tac, Washington

Environmental impacts of the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport present a number of issues, as discussed in my previous blog articles, Externalities and Risk - The Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and The Seattle-Tacoma International Airport - Environmental Issues. Cities around the airport such as Burien, Sea Tac, Tukwila, Normandy Park and Des Moines have gained economically from airport operations and have suffered costs, or externalities from airport operations.

The airport and the trade that it generates are the 800 pound gorilla in the neighborhood, are the drivers of economic change and development, and through the multiplier effect are responsible for a great deal of economic development in the region which they do not directly manage.

It is clear to those living in the neighborhood of the airport that there are considerable externalities involved with regards to airport operations. Citizens note the impact of air and noise pollution.  It is also true that the airport has a significant impact on the larger region.  Increased airport operations may necessitate it compressing activities within its existing space, enlarging its footprint by buying properties, or having some operations move to other airports. Airports in the region include Renton Municipal Airport, King County Airport/Boeing Field and Paine Field in Everett.  Moses Lake in Eastern Washington, which has a large runway, could even be considered a possibility to relieve additional load.

A recent Sea Tac City Council meeting (April 16, 2015) addressed a number of these issues, looking towards long term growth in airport utilization (2.9% average per year over a twenty year period with greater increase in the near term), and the potential of a Federal Aviation Agency building to the South of the Airport. There is already a Federal Detention Center to the south of the airport.  Some airport usages, such as food services, could potentially move outside the perimeter of the airport.

It is difficult to extract the specific environmental impact of the airport on the region from other sources of pollution, to attribute differences in health and socioeconomic metrics to specific environmental factors when air, noise and electromagnetic waves show no boundaries, and where there are many other sources of pollution including cars, trucks and other industries or point sources. There are feedback mechanism which work between all the relevant variables which complicate analysis.

There are a variety of studies available from governmental sources regarding emissions, sociological parameters and assessing the risk from the pollutants that the public is exposed to. These studies present analytic challenges due to the extensive number of variables involved, the manner in which the variables are measured (or not measured), their subjectivity and issues of comparability over time.

The environment around the airport serves as a metaphor for the environmental challenges that confront us, an example that is repeated in other environments.  Thus any studies done in the microclimate or vicinity of the airport could be used as examples for other areas facing similar issues. The situation around the airport must be examined in the context of the growth and economic development issues that we face, so that we can develop policy which will help us face the increasing social and economic challenges that face us.

A Washington Department of Health and King County Department of Public Health study in 1999 provides an example of a report that is focused on the area around the airport, looking at one, three and five mile bands around the airport.  Perhaps this report could be expanded to include the examination of additional variables of concern.  This report looked at the condition of glioblastoma, a neurological cancer disorder and other conditions. King County Department of Health has an extensive variety of reports available on health and sociological issues.

Future studies must include all communities impacted in the area around the airport, including those indicated in the first paragraph.  The larger question is how the externalities of airport operation may be addressed and compensated for, and the needs of the immediate and larger communities met.  It is apparent that there is a problem, that it does impact health and well being, including both psychological well being and physiological well being.  While another study would be valuable, and should be done, as the study is undertaken, steps should be taken to remedy the immediate situation in the face of increased economic development.  Perhaps permanent residential properties in the close vicinity of the airport can be purchased and used for their operations which can be moved outside the fence.

However difficult it is to bring all the variable together in a rigid analytic framework, analysis of the situation becomes apparent when you take a step back and look at the big picture.  The airport has a profound effect that does not appear to be captured fully by the measurements that are provided to us. Human beings are being experimented on, and the environment around the airport is transforming people, perhaps in a way that they do not wish to be transformed.  This issue has profound psychological, medical, economic and sociological implications.

Examination of the situation presents a number of analytic problems, many of which involve measurements and their interpretation. I discuss these issues in this and future blog articles.

The Pollutants

• The wide range of pollutants discussed form a witch's brew of chemicals, including diesel particulate matter, cadmium, arsenic, polycyclic aromatichydrocarbons (PAHs), lead, and many others.
• Air quality and water quality standards do not exist for many of the pollutants mentioned, presenting a problem in taking regulatory action.
• Pollutants may interact in unexpected ways.  With so many pollutants, and so many combinations, it may be difficult to ascertain the impact of all the interactions and the direct contribution of the airport to those interaction.  
• While it may be difficult to attribute the direct contribution of the airport to pollutant levels, the airport's impact through the multiplier effect gives greater credibility to the airport's contribution to overall pollutant levels.  At that point it becomes an issue of assigning the costs of those externalities to those benefiting from the airport's presence through the multiplier effect. An example of this would be shuttle pick up services and cabs.
• Pollutants may combine with meteorological or solar conditions in unexpected ways, perhaps generating new, transitory, and unanticipated chemical reactions
• The movement of pollutant monitors over time makes it difficult to perform long term studies analyzing the impact of pollution on public health.  Opportunity to measure long term trends and make comparisons between stations is decreased when stations are moved elsewhere.
• The methods of measuring pollutants and standards for assessing health risks have changed over the years, especially as new equipment has been developed. Questions arise as to what extent new measurement methods correlate with old methods, what information is gained or lost by using these new methods, and how the continuity of data has been impacted.
• There are locations which have not been monitored, at the western edge of the airport, which may represent a microclimate more susceptible to the pooling of polluted air, especially during inversions when the air is stagnant, considering the barrier formed by the third runway's berm.
• It is not clear to what extent the aquifer is impacted by pollutants affecting water quality, and to what extent any water pollution is due to airport operations or property.  This is an issue reflecting the Tacoma Smelter Plume and any fill underlaying the airport and its impact on the environment and other issues.
• It is difficult to ascertain the contributions of the individual sources to the pollutant load in the area, although to a certain extent usage of fuels of various types may serve as a proxy.
• While there is some information on noise levels, the metrics do not do a sufficient job of measuring the risk and the impacts. Noise decibel level frequency distributions would be helpful, especially in capturing the impact of engine backblast. It is clear that the full time population lives too close to the airport for the noise levels experienced.  Increased insulation helps, but to have full impact, requires windows to be closed.  The experience of the Federal Detention Center in Sea Tac might be helpful in analyzing this issue.
• The focus on carbon dioxide has been on its contribution as a greenhouse gas to global warming.  While this is important on a global scale, the impacts of carbon dioxide in smaller areas, microclimates may be important to analyze in so far as they may impact the emergence of health conditions.
• Air traffic control and weather radars may contribute to a variety of health conditions through the generation of electromagnetic fields ranging from 300 MHz to 15 GHz which fit within the microwave energy spectrum.  Microwaves are electromagnetic waves with frequencies between 300 MHz and 300 GHz.  It would be helpful to have more monitoring information regarding electromagnetic fields and their attenuation over distance resulting from airport operations, including radar and radio signals.
• Study results discussing pollutant results with other parameters are sometimes expressed as not exceeding a certain standard level.   It would be helpful to present the actual data values themselves, so that the public can ascertain how close the levels are to exceeding standards, and what their trends are. 

I will discuss health and other issues in the next blog article.

Sources of Information
Puget Sound Clean Air Agency - Final Report - Puget Sound Air Toxics Evaluation - October 2003
Department of Ecology - Toxic Cleanup Program (ASARCO Smelter Plume)
World Health Organization - Electromagnetic Fields
Port of Seattle - Part 150 Study
Port of Seattle - Groundwater Monitoring
Port of Seattle - Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan
Scandanavian Journal of Health - Glioblastoma Multiforme
Tacoma Smelter Plume Information - Washington Department of Ecology
King County Community Health Indicators - King County (Top 10 Leading Causes of Death)
King County Public Health -School District Health Profiles
King County Health Profile
King County Public Health - Data and Reports

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport - Environmental Issues

Airplane Landing in the Fog at Night

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport

In my recent article, "Externalities and Risks, the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport", I discussed externalities associated with Airport operations.  The Airport environment presents a number of environmental issues, many of which are impacted by meteorological factors.

Fog is an important risk factor.  Fog reduces visibility, and although airports have radar systems, fog is still a hazard for pilots to be aware of.  Fog is a cloud at ground level, water droplets or ice suspended in air.  Suspended particulates or gas molecules can provide a nucleus around which water droplets or ice can form, thus encouraging the formation of clouds.  Enucleated pollutants, such as sulfur dioxide gain an easier entry into the respiratory system, increasing the impact on health.

During the fall, winter and spring, when temperature inversions form, often in the wake of high pressure systems, there is an increased risk from pollutants, often accompanied by fog.  This is especially true in the Pacific Northwest with the influence of marine air from the Pacific Ocean.  

A normal temperature gradient is warmer air on the surface and colder air aloft.  A temperature inversion reverses the normal gradient, trapping colder air on the bottom layer, with warmer air aloft.

Temperature inversions early this year influenced the snow pack in the mountains, as temperatures warmed aloft.  Temperature inversions can impact the levels of ice pack and the availability of water from mountain sources.  Because pollutants are trapped with the warm air aloft and the cold air on the bottom,  pollutants are trapped within a lesser layer of air, increasing the density of pollutants. These conditions lead to air stagnation advisories and burn bans, which are called by the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency.

Climate change and global warming may impact a variety of meteorological factors, increasing severity.  Other meteorological factors affecting air traffic may include wind shear, thunderstorms, snow storms and heat, which is of concern in the southwest, where a certain air density is required for take off.

Pollutants from aviation operations are a concern.  Pollutants are the product of combustion of aircraft fuel, burning of oils and solvents as well as particulate matter which may become abraded especially during take off and landing (TO/L) where the stresses on parts are higher.

Aircraft emissions include a variety of gases, including those of interest in analysis of climate change and global warming.  These gases include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide. 

A study by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) gives a comprehensive study of aircraft emissions.

The components of aircraft emissions may vary depending on whether they are aloft, and considered greenhouse gasses, or local air quality pollutants.  " Aircraft engine emissions are roughly composed of about 70 percent CO2, a little less than 30 percent H2O, and less than 1 percent each of NOx, CO, SOx, VOC, particulates, and other trace components including HAPs."

About ten percent (10%) of aircraft emissions, except for carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons occur at ground level.  Thirty percent (30%) of Carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon emissions from aircraft occur at ground level.

Carbon Dioxide and Nitric oxides, and methane, as well as water vapor have significant contributions to climate change and global warming. Ozone is also an issue with aircraft emissions, although the effect is felt downwind due to the impact and timing of the photochemical effect that produces ozone.

The airport industry, according to industry source Air Transport Action Group (ATAG), produces 2% of world carbon dioxide emissions and 12% of carbon dioxide emissions from transportation sources. The impact of carbon dioxide may be more significant before springtime, when leaves emerge on the deciduous trees.  Levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere can be illustrated by the Keeling Curve which graphs levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere over time. One concern is that carbon dioxide emissions may impact feedback mechanisms that determine breathing patterns and modulate delivery of oxygen throughout the body.

An Airport Report Quality Manual published by the International Civil Aviation Organization discusses Airport Pollution issues. They discuss various particulate matter of varying sizes (10 micrometers or less, or PM2.5 of 2.5 micrometers or less.  Particulate matter "has a very diverse composition (heavy metals, sulphates, nitrates, ammonium, organic carbons, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, dioxins/furans)."

The manual states: "Effects: fine particles and soot can cause respiratory and cardiovascular disorders, increased mortality and cancer risk; dust deposition can cause contamination of the soil, plants and also, via the food chain, human exposure to heavy metals and dioxins/furans contained in dust."

Air pollution impacts many systems. Respiratory systems, in particular, are affected, impacting the delivery of oxygen to the bloodstream, and thus to the brain, affecting the respiratory muscles and vasculature, and impacting sleep.  Air Pollution and the Respiratory System is a comprehensive journal article discussing the topic.  Cardiovascular systems also are impacted.  Air quality issues raise a number of concerns.

Noise pollution from airport operations also have a significant impact.  Meteorological conditions also affect the sound propagation, or noise emissions from airport operations.  According the "Encyclopedia of the Earth", microclimate effects can impact the refraction of sound waves through the atmosphere, intensifying sound levels.  Noise emissions may result in a variety of physiological and psychological impacts, including cardiovascular effects.  Such effects may reflect exposure to short, high intensity effects from jet engine backblast, to longer term impacts of exposure to moderate sound levels.

Emissions from Airport operations play an important role in contributing to pollution, both in the immediate area of the airport, in a larger, regional context, and with regards to global issues of planetary climate change and global warming.   Externalities from such emissions encapsulate the full downstream effects of these emissions, which impact citizens who may incur the cost of such emissions but not share in the economic benefits that the airport brings to the region.

Meteorological conditions affect the deposition of such emissions, near or far, through the atmosphere, in soil or water, or perhaps deposited in human tissue, blood or other organs of the body. Thus the effects of emissions on water systems is important  It is interesting to note that the human body is about 55% to 65% water, depending on who and what is being measured, so that the study of water systems can include the atmosphere, rivers, lakes, oceans, and even the human body.

Given the dispersion and deposition of emissions from airport operations, a challenge is to pluck out the impacts attributable to airport operations from other sources surrounding the airport, some of which are directly related to, and gain from, the airport's presence.  This issue brings me back to the original blog article on "Externalities and Risks, the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport",

Future blog articles will further explore these issues, taking into account current locally available information, assessing the measurement of risks, and considering means of compensating those impacted for the economic and social burden of the externalities in question. These are important issues that have implications for both local and global health, extending into physiological and psychological areas that impact humanity.

Blog Articles:
Externalities and Risk - The Seattle Tacoma International Airport
Climate Change and Carbon 

Climate Change and Global Health

World Health Organization Report on Air Pollution and Health

Climate Change and Carbon

Plume from Stack, Longview, Washington

Global Warming and Climate change are important topics.  Recent talks at the United Nations have highlighted the concern about these planetary issues that go beyond borders and seek to unite people in discovering means to solve the emerging problems.

The United Nations climate change site indicates that 2014 is on track to being among the hottest on record.  Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change states "Fortunately our political climate is changing too with evidence that governments, supported by investors, business and cities are moving towards a meaningful, universal climate agreement in Paris 2015 - an agreement that keeps a global temperature rise below 2 degrees C by putting in place the pathways to a deep de-carbonisation of the world's economy and climate neutrality or 'net zero' in the second half of the century."

A recent article in Scientific American discusses United Nations climate talks in Paris last December. As the article indicates "(The planet's surface has warmed about 0.85 degrees C (1.5 degrees F) since 1880, worsening floods, storms and deadly heat waves.) The 2 degrees C target has since become a keystone goal of the negotiations."

NASA's, Global Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet displays information about climate change. including graphs and latest measurements.  This information shows steadily increasing recorded carbon dioxide levels in recent history, with inputed history obtained from ice cores indicating significant variation from historical levels over three glaciation periods. Ice cores have been drawn from the Arctic, Antarctic and mountain glaciers.  The measured value as of January 2015 showed 399.73 parts per million (ppm), just under 400 ppm. At current rates it should exceed 400 ppm in February 2015.

Snow Hill Island, Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica

 NASA's Climate Change site provides information on Global Temperature.  Five year averages in global temperature are measured relative to a 1951-1980 average temperature baseline, indicating a dip in global temperature around 1910 and a steady rise since then.

Global Warming concerns have fostered considerable research  on climate change issues, seeking ways to mitigate the impacts of climate change, providing potential solutions.  Climate change and environmental issues have been addressed at local, state, federal and international levels.   The CIA World Factbook provides a list of Current Environmental issues and international agreements which countries listed are a "party to" and/or "signed, but not ratified".

I discuss some of the issues relating to climate change, including global health in other blog articles relating to Climate Change and Global Health  and Avian Flu.

Carbon, and especially carbon dioxide are sequestered in a number of areas on the planet, including in the rocks and in the oceans.  Other greenhouse gases, such as methane, are sequestered in areas such as Arctic Tundra, and in the oceans.  The questions remain as to how much capacity does our planet have to sequester carbon, without over stressing the resource with storage demands and whether there is a risk that carbon which has been already sequestered might be released back into the environment.

An outgassing of carbon dioxide at Lake Nyos (1986), in Africa, illustrates the problem which can occur with a body of water that is saturated with carbon dioxide.  Lake Nyos lies above a pocket of magma and is one of only three lakes saturated with carbon dioxide.  Lake Nyos is not the size of the ocean, however.

It is clear that carbon, and carbon dioxide are keystone issues in addressing global warming and climate change.  Global warming is especially sensitive to changes in carbon dioxide, as increases in carbon dioxide can also lead to increases in water vapor in the atmosphere, as indicated by a NASA report. Water vapor is the most abundant greenhouse gas.  Thus, increases in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere can act in a positive feedback manner to increase the greenhouse effect.

Just as carbon dioxide is a sensitive indicator in the atmosphere, and may represent a bifurcation between different climatological paradigms, one pursues, seeks and finds answers as to the equivalent impact that changing carbon dioxide atmospheric concentrations have on the human body, which is also a sensitive indicator of climate change. These findings have implications for Global Health, as well the psychosocial milieu in which mankind experiences climate change.

These are all very serious issues worthy of further research, consideration and action. The key question is the manner in which homeostasis is achieved, given the climate change issues.

World Health Organization Report on Air Pollution and Health

                   Orca Whale, Haze, Strait of Juan de Fuca, British Columbia, 9/18/2012

A report released 3/25/2014 by the World Health Organization attributed one in eight deaths to the impacts from air pollution.   The report indicated that 7 million people died in 2012 as a result of air pollution, making air pollution the greatest single environmental health risk.   The WHO report provides fact sheets on Ambient (Outdoor) Pollution and on Indoor Pollution.   The WHO report displays a number of informative graphical presentations of the world wide distribution and impact of air pollution.  These presentations include the Exposure to Ambient Air Pollution and Mortality from Ambient Air Pollution.

 As the WHO graphs show, high income nations such as the United States had better air quality results.  The United States has a regulatory presence in the air pollution field with the Environmental Protection Agency, state agencies such as the State of Washington's Department of Ecology and local agencies such as the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency providing regulatory oversight. 

Air pollution is a global problem, as it can cross borders with global air flow.  The regulatory climate in one nation may impact other nations downwind from it. Thus nations are concerned about the regulatory climate in other countries.

The impact of air pollution goes beyond the health issues pointed out in the WHO article.  It also impacts economic relationships between countries.  Corporations arbitrage the cost in complying with air pollution regulations in their decisions as to where to locate by excluding the economic cost of externalities in pricing. 

Countries who do not have as stringent air pollution regulations will thus attract more business due to the lower costs associated with lesser compliance.  This results in consumers purchasing goods at lower prices, which do not reflect the externalities associated with the degradation in air quality. These externalities include the costs of increased morbidity and mortality of not only those in the area producing the pollution but in those areas downwind which may be subject to the pollution.  The downwind spread will reflect the nature of the pollutant and atmospheric conditions.

The above photo was taken in the Strait of Juan de Fuca between Washington State and British Columbia, looking west, through the haze, on a calm fall day.  The haze reflects the impact of suspended particulates, atmospheric aerosols, and the marine air mass.  Another photo, taken looking east on the same day, shows the impact of forest fires in Eastern Washington on air quality in views of Mt Baker and the Cascade Mountains.  

It is an interesting exercise to consider the relative contributions of air pollution from foreign and domestic sources.  This is especially challenging when atmospheric conditions encourage the mixing of different sources in a stagnant setting and contributions to health issues need to be considered.   An article in the Smithsonian (1/21/14) discusses contributions of air pollution from China to air pollution in the United States.