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- Munthe, Christian, 1962
(författare)
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The Price of Precaution and the Ethics of Risk
- 2011
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Bok (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Since a couple of decades, the notion of a precautionary principle plays a central and increasingly influential role in international as well as national policy and regulation regarding the environment and the use of technology. Urging society to take action in the face of potential risks of human activities in these areas, the recent focus on climate change has further sharpened the importance of this idea. However, the idea of a precautionary principle has also been problematised and criticised by scientists, scholars and policy activists, and been accused of almost every intellectual sin imaginable: unclarity, impracticality, arbitrariness and moral as well as political unsoundness. In that light, the very idea of precaution as an ideal for policy making rather comes out as a dead end. On the basis of these contrasting starting points, Christian Munthe undertakes an innovative, in-depth philosophical analysis of what the idea of a precautionary principle is and should be about. A novel theory of the ethics of imposing risks is developed and used as a foundation for defending the idea of precaution in environmental and technological policy making against its critics, while at the same time avoiding a number of identified flaws. The theory is shown to have far-reaching consequences for areas such as bio-, information- and nuclear technology, and global environmental policy in areas such as climate change. The author argues that, while the price we pay for precaution must not be too high, we have to be prepared to pay it in order to act ethically defensible. A number of practical suggestions for precautionary regulation and policy making are made on the basis of this, and some challenges to basic ethical theory as well as consumerist societies, the global political order and liberal democracy are identified
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Davidsson, Åsa, et al.
(författare)
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Effect of anaerobic digestion at 35, 55 and 60 °C on pharmaceuticals and organic contaminants
- 2014
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Ingår i: Water Science and Technology. - : IWA Publishing. - 0273-1223 .- 1996-9732. ; 69:6, s. 1282-1288
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The application of treated sewage sludge on farmland is a suggested method for recycling nutrients and reducing demand for commercial fertilizer. However, sludge needs to be safe from possible contaminants which can cause acute and long-term health and environmental problems. Residual pharmaceuticals and organic contaminants are mentioned as emerging threats since wastewater treatment plants are not designed to degrade these substances. The aim of this study was to screen and evaluate the presence, and reduction, of pharmaceuticals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) during anaerobic digestion of mixed primary and waste-activated sludge at 35, 55 and 60°C and during pasteurization at 70°C. The study showed the difficulty of analysing pharmaceutical compounds in low concentrations in the sludge matrix. No general reduction of these compounds was seen during treatment, but for individual substances some reduction occured. The PAHs were generally not reduced during digestion or pasteurization, but for three substances (indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene and dibenzo[a,h]anthracene (analysed together) and benzo[g,h,i]perylene) reduction (up to 60%) during digestion was seen. Digestion at 35 and 55°C resulted in about the same order of reduction of the three individual PAHs, which was higher than for digestion at 60°C.
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| 5. |
- Cutas, Daniela, 1978, et al.
(författare)
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Legal imperialism in the regulation of stem cell research and therapy: the problem of extraterritorial jurisdiction
- 2010
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Ingår i: Capps BJ & Campbell AV (eds.). CONTESTED CELLS: Global Perspectives on the Stem Cell Debate. - London : Imperial College Press. - 9781848164376 ; , s. 95-119
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Countries worldwide have very different national regulations on human embryonic stem (ES) cell research, informed by a range of ethical values. Some countries find reason to extend the applicability of their regulations on such research to its citizens when they visit other countries. Extraterritorial jurisdiction has recently been identified as a potential challenge towards global regulation of ES cell research. This chapter explores the implications and impact of extraterritorial jurisdiction and global regulation of ES cell research on researchers, clinicians and national health systems, and how this may affect patients. The authors argue that it would make ethical sense for ES cell restrictive countries to extend its regulations on ES cell research beyond its borders, because, if these countries really consider embryo destruction to be objectionable on the basis on the status of the embryo, then they ought to count it morally on par with murder (and thus have a moral imperative to protect embryos from the actions of its own citizens). However, doing so could lead to a legal situation that would result in substantial harm to central values in areas besides research, such as health care, the job market, basic freedom of movement, and strategic international finance and politics. Thus, it seems that restrictive extraterritorial jurisdiction in respect to ES cell research would be deeply problematic, given that the ethical permissibility of ES cell research is characterised by deep and wide disagreement.
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| 6. |
- Mahapatra, Krushna, et al.
(författare)
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Swedish energy advisers' perceptions regarding and suggestions for fulfilling homeowner expectations
- 2011
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Ingår i: Energy Policy. - : Elsevier BV. - 0301-4215 .- 1873-6777. ; 39:7, s. 4264-4273
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Municipality energy advice services were re-introduced in Sweden in 1998 as a way of advising end-users, mainly owners of detached houses, on energy issues. In this paper, we investigate Swedish energy advisers' perceptions of homeowners' awareness of the energy advice service and their perceived ability to fulfil homeowners' expectations. Our study is based on a mail-in questionnaire survey conducted in 2009 and distributed to municipality energy advisers in all municipalities in Sweden. About 66% of the energy advisers responded. The results show that 43% of the energy advisers thought that fewer than 50% of the homeowners were aware of the service and that mass media advertisements and presentations at different organisations could improve homeowner awareness. Energy adviser attitudes, job satisfaction, and the perception that the advisers possessed up-to-date and good knowledge and sufficient financial resources to execute their duties had a significant influence on their perceived ability to fulfil homeowner expectations. Increased training in technical aspects of energy measures and increased financial support were the two measures most widely suggested as a means to improve energy advisers' performance.
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| 8. |
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Systems Perspectives on Biorefineries 2012
- 2012
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Samlingsverk (redaktörskap) (refereegranskat)abstract
- Replacing fossil fuels with biomass for the production of energy carriers, materials and specialty chemicalsis a challenge that now confronts humanity. In which applications shall we use limited resourcesof biomass? How can biomass be refined into the products we want? What is an optimal design of abiorefinery? How is the most advantageous portfolio of policy instruments designed to realise the biorefineriesof the future?There is not one final answer to these questions. However, different systems studies can provide us withcomplementary pieces of the puzzle. These can be valuable by themselves, or be brought together into alarger and more complex picture. Systems perspectives on Biorefineries 2012 contains nine chapters thataddress different topics related to the immensely important issue of how the world’s biomass resourcescan, or should, be converted into the goods we need and desire. The book is far from complete, but it is acontribution and a start...
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| 9. |
- Gustafsson, Kerstin, et al.
(författare)
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Direct and indirect effects of the fungicide azoxystrobin in outdoor brackish water microcosms
- 2010
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Ingår i: Ecotoxicology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0963-9292 .- 1573-3017. ; 19:2, s. 431-444
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The effects of the strobilurin fungicide azoxystrobin were studied in brackish water microcosms, with natural plankton communities and sediment. Two experiments were conducted: Experiment 1 (nominal conc. 0, 15 and 60 mu g/L, 24-L outdoor microcosms for 21 days) and a second, follow-up, Experiment 2 (nominal conc. 0, 3, 7.5, 15 mu g/L, 4-L indoor microcosms for 12 days). The microcosms represent a simplified brackish water community found in shallow semi-enclosed coastal areas in agricultural districts in the Baltic Sea region. Measured water concentrations of the fungicide (Experiment 1) were, on average, 83 and 62% of nominal concentrations directly after application, and 25 and 30% after 21 days, for the low and high dose treatments, respectively, corresponding to mean DT50-values of 15.1 and 25.8 days, for low and high dose treatments, respectively. In Experiment 1, direct toxic effects on calanoid copepods at both test concentrations were observed. Similarly, in Experiment 2, the copepod abundance was significantly reduced at all tested concentrations. There were also significant secondary effects on zooplankton and phytoplankton community structure, standing stocks and primary production. Very few ecotoxicological studies have investigated effects of plant protection products on Baltic organisms in general and effects on community structure and function specifically. Our results show that azoxystrobin is toxic to brackish water copepods at considerably lower concentrations than previously reported from single species tests on freshwater crustaceans, and that direct toxic effects on this ecologically important group may lead to cascade effects altering lower food webs and ecosystem functioning.
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| 10. |
- Betancourt, Fernando, et al.
(författare)
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Modeling and controlling clarifier–thickeners fed by suspensions with time-dependent properties
- 2014
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Ingår i: Minerals Engineering. - : Elsevier BV. - 0892-6875. ; 62, s. 91-101
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A one-dimensional model of the process of continuous sedimentation in a clarifier–thickener unit is presented. The governing model is expressed as a system of two nonlinear partial differential equations for the solids volume fraction and the varying settling velocity of the solids as functions of depth and time. This model extends the well-known model for the dynamics of a flocculated suspension in a clarifier–thickener advanced by Bürger et al. (2005). Operating charts are calculated to be used for the control of steady states, in particular, to keep the sediment level and the underflow volume fraction at desired values. A numerical scheme and a simple regulator are proposed and numerical simulations are performed.
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