Predictive Modeling of Organic Pollutant Leaching and Transport Behavior at the Lysimeter and Field Scales

Soil and groundwater pollution has become a global issue since the advent of industrialization and mechanized agriculture. Some contaminants such as PAHs may persist in the subsurface for decades and centuries. In a bid to address these issues, protection of groundwater must be based on the quantification of potential threats to pollution at the subsurface which is often inaccessible. Risk assessment of groundwater pollution may however be strongly supported by applying process-based simulation models, which turn out to be particularly helpful with regard to long-term predictions, which cannot be undertaken by experiments. Such reliable predictions, however, can only be achieved if the used modeling tool is known to be applicable. The aim of this work was threefold. First, a source strength function was developed to describe the leaching behavior of point source organic contaminants and thereby acting as a time-dependent upper boundary condition for transport models. For general application of these functions dimensionless numbers known as Damköhler numbers were used to characterize the reaction of the pollutants with the solid matrix. Two functions were derived and have been incorporated into an Excel worksheet to act as a practical aid in the quantification of leaching behavior of organic contaminant in seepage water prognoses. Second, the process based model tool SMART, which is well validated for laboratory scale data, was applied to lysimeter scale data from two research centres, FZJ (Jülich) and GSF (München) for long term predictions. Results from pure forward model runs show a fairly good correlation with the measured data. Finally, the derived source term functions in combination with the SMART model were used to assess groundwater vulnerability beneath a typical landfill at Kwabenya in Ghana. The predicted breakthrough time after leaking from the landfill was more than 200 years considering the operational time of the facility (30 years). Considering contaminant degradation, the landfill would therefore not cause groundwater pollution under the simulated scenarios and the SMART model can be used to establish waste acceptance criteria for organic contaminants in the landfill at KwabenyaSeit dem Beginn der Industrialisierung und der mechanisierten Landwirtschaft wurde die Boden- und Grundwasserverschmutzung zu einem weltweiten Problem. Einige Schadstoffe wie z. B. PAK können für Jahrzehnte oder Jahrhunderte im Untergrund bestehen. Um diese Probleme behandeln zu können, muss der Schutz des Grundwassers basierend auf der Quantifizierung potentieller Gefährdungen des zumeist unzugänglichen Untergrundes erfolgen. Risikoabschätzungen von Grundwasserverschmutzungen können jedoch durch die Anwendung prozess-basierter Simulationsmodelle erheblich unterstützt werden, die sich besonders im Hinblick auf Langzeitvorhersagen als hilfreich erweisen und nicht experimentell ermittelbar sind. Derart zuverlässige Vorhersagen können jedoch nur erhalten werden, wenn das verwendete Modellierwerkzeug als anwendbar bekannt ist. Das Ziel dieser Arbeit bestand aus drei Teilen. Erstens wurde eine Quellstärke-funktion entwickelt, die das Ausbreitungsverhalten organischer Schadstoffe aus einer Punktquelle beschreibt und dadurch als zeitabhängige obere Randbedingung bei Transportmodellen dienen kann. Im Hinblick auf die allgemeine Anwendbarkeit dieser Funktion werden als Damköhler-Zahlen bekannte, dimensionslose Zahlen verwendet, um die Reaktion von Schadstoffen mit Feststoffen zu charakterisieren. Zwei Funktionen wurden abgeleitet und in ein Excel-Arbeitsblatt eingefügt, das ein praktisches Hilfsmittel bei der Quantifizierung des Freisetzungsverhaltens organischer Schadstoffe im Rahmen der Sickerwasserprognose darstellt. Der zweite Teil dieser Arbeit beinhaltet die Anwendung des prozessbasierten und mittels Laborexperimenten validierten Modellwerkzeugs SMART für Langzeitprognosen auf der Lysimeterskala anhand von Daten zweier Forschungszentren, FZJ (Jülich) und GSF (München). Ergebnisse reiner Vorwärtsmodellierungsläufe zeigten gute Übereinstimmungen mit den gemessenen Daten. Im dritten Teil wurden die erhaltenen Quellstärkefunktionen in Kombination mit dem SMART-Modell eingesetzt, um das Grundwassergefährdungspotential unter einer typischen Deponie in Kwabenya, Ghana, einzuschätzen. Die vorhergesagten Durchbruchszeiten nach einer Leckage in der Deponie betragen über 200 Jahre bei einer Betriebszeit von 30 Jahren. Unter Berücksichtigung des Schadstoffabbaus verursacht die Deponie somit keine Grundwasserverunreinigung im Rahmen der simulierten Szenarien und das SMART-Modell kann verwendet werden, um Schadstoffgrenzwerte für organische Schadstoffe in der Deponie in Kwabenya festzulegen

The Over-Searching Accidents Causative Factors in Ghana: The Role of Policyholders Education Levels

Available statistics indicates that about 90% of all claims or accident in Ghana is caused by human behavior. Therefore, policyholders’ errors are categorized depending on the severity and extend of casualties caused as a result of misinterpretation of road traffic control devices based on their education levels. Hence, in order to ascertain all the possible causes within the human element to reduce the increasing trend of yearly claims, this study report on the influence of education levels on accident/claims frequency and severity drawing upon a purposive sample of 203 policyholders who have experienced at least one accident in a year using structural equation modeling (SEM). The findings from our regression weights gave enough evidence to reject most of our hypotheses with few ones being supported. This study provides enough evidence that education generally to perspective policyholders influence accidents/claims occurrence. However, in terms of education levels of policyholders, we did not have enough evidence in support of any of these levels either causing or reducing claims/accident frequency. Besides accident/claim frequency, we extended our regression analysis on claim severity and also included some well know auto insurance rating factors to ascertain their impacts on accident frequency. Consequently, it was revealed that most of the severe claims or accidents that results into deaths and serious injuries on yearly basis are caused by policyholders or drivers with medium level of education in Ghana with its frequency driving mostly by rating factors such as the vehicle’s age, cubic capacity, mileage, etc

Examining the structure of the fashion industry in Ghana in ensuring the successful adoption of sustainable approach

The structure of the fashion industry in various geographical regions, along with its production history and practices, plays a pivotal role in shaping the adoption and implementation of sustainable strategies. This study examines the fashion industry’s structure in Ghana as a fundamental step in considering the adoption and implementation of sustainable strategies. To facilitate the selection of respondents for this preliminary study, we employed a Google survey, utilizing a snowball technique to identify participations in the two major cities in Ghana. The survey specifically targeted fashion producers operating within the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with retail outlets. Collected data from Google Forms were collated with Microsoft Excel and subsequently analyzed. The findings unveiled that young businesses often operate as sole proprietorship, with their founders serving as lead designers, primarily selling directly to end users. While previous studies have documented similar findings, this study connects these observations to the adoption of sustainable strategies in businesses where where owners, who also serve as creative heads, make significant decisions that can influence the practice of sustainable strategies. Furthermore, the study highlights that sustainability and sustainable practices are relatively new to SMEs in Ghana. It recommends further research to gauge the awareness and willingness to adopt circular strategies, given the industry towards industrialization

Evaluation of Aluminum Speciation Using Synthetic and Natural Samples: First Progress Report

published or submitted for publicationis peer reviewedOpe

Evaluation of Aluminum Speciation Using Synthetic and Natural Samples: Final Report

published or submitted for publicationis peer reviewedOpe

Valuing nature’s contributions to people: the IPBES approach

Nature is perceived and valued in starkly different and often conflicting ways. This paper presents the rationale for the inclusive valuation of nature’s contributions to people (NCP) in decision making, as well as broad methodological steps for doing so. While developed within the context of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), this approach is more widely applicable to initiatives at the knowledge–policy interface, which require a pluralistic approach to recognizing the diversity of values. We argue that transformative practices aiming at sustainable futures would benefit from embracing such diversity, which require recognizing and addressing power relationships across stakeholder groups that hold different values on human nature-relations and NCP

The IPBES Conceptual Framework - connecting nature and people

The first public product of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) is its Conceptual Framework. This conceptual and analytical tool, presented here in detail, will underpin all IPBES functions and provide structure and comparability to the syntheses that IPBES will produce at different spatial scales, on different themes, and in different regions. Salient innovative aspects of the IPBES Conceptual Framework are its transparent and participatory construction process and its explicit consideration of diverse scientific disciplines, stakeholders, and knowledge systems, including indigenous and local knowledge. Because the focus on co-construction of integrative knowledge is shared by an increasing number of initiatives worldwide, this framework should be useful beyond IPBES, for the wider research and knowledge-policy communities working on the links between nature and people, such as natural, social and engineering scientists, policy-makers at different levels, and decision-makers in different sectors of society

Low Microfilaremia Levels in Three Districts in Coastal Ghana with at Least 16 Years of Mass Drug Administration and Persistent Transmission of Lymphatic Filariasis

Ghana has been implementing mass drug administration (MDA) of ivermectin and albendazole for the elimination of lymphatic filariasis (LF) since the year 2000, as part of the Global Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (GPELF). It was estimated that 5–6 years of treatment would be sufficient to eliminate the disease. Tremendous progress has been made over the years, and treatment has stopped in many disease endemic districts. However, despite the successful implementation of MDA, there are districts with persistent transmission. In this study we assessed the epidemiology of LF in three adjoining districts that have received at least 16 years of MDA. The assessments were undertaken one year after the last MDA. 1234 adults and 182 children below the age of 10 years were assessed. The overall prevalence of circulating filarial antigen in the study participants was 8.3% (95% CI: 6.9–9.9), with an estimated microfilaria prevalence of 1.2%. The microfilarial intensity in positive individuals ranged from 1 to 57 microfilariae/mL of blood. Higher antigen prevalence was detected in males (13.0%; 95% CI: 10.3–16.2) compared to females (5.5%; 95% CI: 4.1–7.2). The presence of infection was also highest in individuals involved in outdoor commercial activities, with the risks of infection being four- to five-fold higher among farmers, fishermen, drivers and artisans, compared to all other occupations. Using bednets or participating in MDA did not significantly influence the risk of infection. No children below the age of 10 years were found with infection. Detection of Wb123 antibodies for current infections indicated a prevalence of 14.4% (95% CI: 8.1–23.0) in antigen-positive individuals above 10 years of age. No antibodies were detected in children 10 years or below. Assessment of infection within the An. gambiae vectors of LF indicated an infection rate of 0.9% (95% CI: 0.3–2.1) and infectivity rate of 0.5% (95% CI: 0.1–1.6). These results indicate low-level transmission within the districts, and suggest that it will require targeted interventions in order to eliminate the infection

Valuing nature's contributions to people: the IPBES approach

Nature is perceived and valued in starkly different and often conflicting ways. This paper presents the rationale for the inclusive valuation of nature's contributions to people (NCP) in decision making, as well as broad methodological steps for doing so. While developed within the context of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), this approach is more widely applicable to initiatives at the knowledge-policy interface, which require a pluralistic approach to recognizing the diversity of values. We argue that transformative practices aiming at sustainable futures would benefit from embracing such diversity, which require recognizing and addressing power relationships across stakeholder groups that hold different values on human naturerelations and NCP