China's soil and groundwater management challenges: Lessons from the UK's experience and opportunities for China

There are a number of specific opportunities for UK and China to work together on contaminated land management issues as China lacks comprehensive and systematic planning for sustainable risk based land management, encompassing both contaminated soil and groundwater and recycling and reuse of soil. It also lacks comprehensive risk assessment systems, structures to support risk management decision making, processes for verification of remediation outcome, systems for record keeping and preservation and integration of contamination issues into land use planning, along with procedures for ensuring effective health and safety considerations during remediation projects, and effective evaluation of costs versus benefits and overall sustainability. A consequence of the absence of these overarching frameworks has been that remediation takes place on an ad hoc basis. At a specific site management level, China lacks capabilities in site investigation and consequent risk assessment systems, in particular related to conceptual modelling and risk evaluation. There is also a lack of shared experience of practical deployment of remediation technologies in China, analogous to the situation before the establishment of the independent, non-profit organisation CL:AIRE (Contaminated Land: Applications In Real Environments) in 1999 in the UK. Many local technology developments are at lab-scale or pilot-scale stage without being widely put into use. Therefore, a shared endeavour is needed to promote the development of technically and scientifically sound land management as well as soil and human health protection to improve the sustainability of the rapid urbanisation in China

Nicotine addiction and intensity of e-cigarette use by adolescents in the US, 2014 to 2021.

IMPORTANCE: As e-cigarettes have become more effective at delivering the addictive drug nicotine, they have become the dominant form of tobacco use by US adolescents. OBJECTIVE: To measure intensity of use of e-cigarettes, cigarettes, and other tobacco products among US adolescents and their dependence level over time. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This survey study analyzed the cross-sectional National Youth Tobacco Surveys from 2014 to 2021. Confirmatory analysis was conducted using Youth Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System from 2015 to 2019. The surveys were administered to national probability samples of US students in grades 6 to 12. EXPOSURES: Use of e-cigarettes and other tobacco products before and after the introduction of e-cigarettes delivering high levels of nicotine. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: First tobacco product used, age at initiation of use, intensity of use (days per month), and nicotine addiction (measured as time after waking to first use of any tobacco product). RESULTS: A total of 151 573 respondents were included in the analysis (51.1% male and 48.9% female; mean [SEM] age, 14.57 [0.03] years). Prevalence of e-cigarette use peaked in 2019 and then declined. Between 2014 and 2021, the age at initiation of e-cigarette use decreased, and intensity of use and addiction increased. By 2017, e-cigarettes became the most common first product used (77.0%). Age at initiation of use did not change for cigarettes or other tobacco products, and changes in intensity of use were minimal. By 2019, more e-cigarette users were using their first tobacco product within 5 minutes of waking than for cigarettes and all other products combined. Median e-cigarette use also increased from 3 to 5 d/mo in 2014 to 2018 to 6 to 9 d/mo in 2019 to 2020 and 10 to 19 d/mo in 2021. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: The changes detected in this survey study may reflect the higher levels of nicotine delivery and addiction liability of modern e-cigarettes that use protonated nicotine to make nicotine easier to inhale. The increasing intensity of use of modern e-cigarettes highlights the clinical need to address youth addiction to these new high-nicotine products over the course of many clinical encounters. In addition, stronger regulation, including comprehensive bans on the sale of flavored tobacco products, should be implemented

Don't destroy the environment

This participatory video titled “Don’t destroy the environment” was filmed, produced, and directed by a group of 9 farmers and community members from Kunzokalla Village in Jirapa District, Upper West Region of Ghana. With this video they want to communicate that the environment needs our active protection and management and we should all ‘rise up and fight to save the land.’ The film features farmers describing opportunities and ways to better protect the environment such as avoiding the use of herbicides, refraining from bush burning, planting trees, and protecting economically valuable tree species. Through a 6 day process facilitated by Juliet Braslow (CIAT), Victor Lolig (UDS), Saa Dittoh (UDS), Jonathan Tuota, Mamudu Akudugu (UDS), Edem Abra (UDS), the farmers learned video techniques, interviewing skills, and developed the story they wanted to share with their community, local leaders, and the world