Exercise carried out by EuroHealthNet members, led by EuroHealthNet and the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM)

Portugal - Survey respondents and Workshop participants: Caldas de Almeida, Teresa - National Institute of Health Doutor Ricardo Jorge, Head of Health Promotion Unit; Costa, Alexandra - National Institute of Health Doutor Ricardo Jorge, Senior Technical ExpertExecutive summary: recommendations for action: The COVID-19 pandemic caught the world unprepared and has changed the shape of public health – and of our lives – for the foreseeable future. A group of senior public health officials from national and regional public health agencies across Europe came together to discuss current developments, the interrelated complexities and implications for their work in the near and longterm future. This report reflects their insights into some of the most pressing societal challenges and trends for public health in the years ahead, adopting a broad definition of health which encompasses social and environmental factors. Challenges considered include the rise in social and health inequalities, the increasing pressure on health systems, and negative impacts on population mental health. They reflect both direct as well as indirect impacts of the crisis on health, such as for instance unemployment and its pathways to ill-health. Climate change and (further) environmental degradation were highlighted as key longterm challenges. The exercise also included setting out opportunities, such as the fact that public health has been put in the spotlight and is at the centre of political agendas and public mindsets. The group concluded that “building back better” from the pandemic could provide an opportunity to strengthen health promotion and disease prevention, to bring more sectors together around the topic of health, including mental health and to enable citizens to adopt healthier, more sustainable behaviours. The importance of community action and social cohesion during the pandemic also provides opportunities to boost local level initiatives and networks. Over the next months and years, actions need to be taken to tackle the challenges at the root level, cushion the impacts of crisis and mitigation measures and encourage positive developments. Public health actors and agencies continue to have a pivotal role to ensuring a resilient, inclusive and sustainable recovery from the pandemic. This foresight exercise led to a draft set of recommendations for how different actors can help bring this about. The recommendations were discussed and validated in a EuroHealthNet partnership workshop in November 2020 and reflect this exchangeAim: EuroHealthNet and its member organisations have important roles to play in the future of public health in Europe, as well as on the ground in their home countries. They monitor, analyse and act to protect and improve the health of the population. This foresight exercise aimed to understand and discuss some of the trends and challenges but also the potential opportunities that have arisen from the pandemic, to inform members’ strategies and their work. It also sought to provide input for EuroHealthNet’s strategy for the coming years and explore how the partnership can positively contribute to “building back better”. The exercise, and this report, also aims to be useful to the broader stakeholder community, working on or around public health at local, national and EU level.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Reproductive effects in two species of native freshwater gastropod mollusc exposed to 17β-oestradiol or an environmentally relevant mixture of oestrogenic chemicals in outdoor mesocosms

Recent evidence suggests that molluscs may be sensitive to the effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in a similar manner to vertebrates, such as fish. Despite this (with the exception of TBT-induced imposex in marine gastropods), molluscs have been largely overlooked in the field of endocrine disruption. Life-cycle studies were conducted in which two species of native UK freshwater gastropod molluscs (the hermaphrodite Planorbarius corneus and the gonochorist Viviparus viviparus) were exposed to either 17β-oestradiol or environmentally relevant mixtures of chemicals known to be oestrogenic to vertebrates and to be present in UK treated sewage effluents (TSE) and rivers. Adult snails were exposed for four months in outdoor mesocosms, fed by river water, over the spring and summer (breeding season) in order to examine effects on reproductive output, growth and mortality. Furthermore, offspring (F1s) were also developmentally exposed over the same period. F1 juvenile snails were then depurated in river water for nine months (over winter) after which time their growth, survival, and reproductive success were measured in further un-dosed river water mesocosm studies in the following spring/summer. Histopathology was used to determine immediate effects of chemical exposure on adult and F1 snails’ reproductive health. Histopathology was also used to determine long lasting effects of chemical exposure on depurated F1s. Exposure to oestrogenic chemicals resulted in a range of effects, including modulated fecundity and growth in F0 adults, to retardation of growth, sexual development and fecundity in developmentally exposed F1s. Exposure to mixtures of oestrogenic chemicals also resulted in possible modulation of the immune system, resulting in increased parasitism and over winter mortality of exposed F1s compared to snails exposed to river water alone. Differences in sensitivity and response to exposure between the two species and the generations were also observed.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Reproductive effects in two species of native freshwater gastropod mollusc exposed to 17β-oestradiol or an environmentally relevant mixture of oestrogenic chemicals in outdoor mesocosms

Recent evidence suggests that molluscs may be sensitive to the effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in a similar manner to vertebrates, such as fish. Despite this (with the exception of TBT-induced imposex in marine gastropods), molluscs have been largely overlooked in the field of endocrine disruption. Life-cycle studies were conducted in which two species of native UK freshwater gastropod molluscs (the hermaphrodite Planorbarius corneus and the gonochorist Viviparus viviparus) were exposed to either 17β-oestradiol or environmentally relevant mixtures of chemicals known to be oestrogenic to vertebrates and to be present in UK treated sewage effluents (TSE) and rivers. Adult snails were exposed for four months in outdoor mesocosms, fed by river water, over the spring and summer (breeding season) in order to examine effects on reproductive output, growth and mortality. Furthermore, offspring (F1s) were also developmentally exposed over the same period. F1 juvenile snails were then depurated in river water for nine months (over winter) after which time their growth, survival, and reproductive success were measured in further un-dosed river water mesocosm studies in the following spring/summer. Histopathology was used to determine immediate effects of chemical exposure on adult and F1 snails’ reproductive health. Histopathology was also used to determine long lasting effects of chemical exposure on depurated F1s. Exposure to oestrogenic chemicals resulted in a range of effects, including modulated fecundity and growth in F0 adults, to retardation of growth, sexual development and fecundity in developmentally exposed F1s. Exposure to mixtures of oestrogenic chemicals also resulted in possible modulation of the immune system, resulting in increased parasitism and over winter mortality of exposed F1s compared to snails exposed to river water alone. Differences in sensitivity and response to exposure between the two species and the generations were also observed.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Pharmaceuticals in the environment : the effects of clofibric acid on fish

Pharmaceuticals in the aquatic environment is an emerging issue and the risks they pose are mostly unknown. They are used in large amounts throughout the world and can enter the environment, as the active metabolite or unmetabolised, through excretion by people and improper disposal. As these drugs are designed to have specific biological effects in a specific organism (as well as sometimes having other non-specific side effects), their potential to cause effects within the environment is great. Clofibric acid (the major metabolite of the lipid lowering drug, Clofibrate) is non-biodegradable, highly motile, very persistent and frequently detected at μg/I levels in the environment. I studied possible effects of clofibric acid in fish, using different experimental approaches and endpoints. The studies involve two different species, and for one of these species, fish at different stages of development. The chapters within this thesis have presented the first evidence (albeit preliminary) of clofibric acid having effects on both adult and embryo fish. When fathead minnow embryos were exposed to clofibric acid, the effects seen included changes in the eggshell, time to hatch, hatchability, mortality and viability. Adult fathead minnow were similarly exposed and significant effects on specific parameters were also observed. These included effects on lipid metabolism, steroidogenesis and spermatogenesis - thought to be via cholesterol transport - as well as significant effects on the expression of several genes involved in lipid metabolism and detoxification. Exposure of juvenile (sexually undifferentiated) bream also found significant differences in some endpoints. Other results suggested, less pronounced effects of clofibric acid on some other parameters. The results from this research show that there are effects of clofibric acid in pathways which were not only unexpected in fish (for example, steroidogenesis, spermatogenesis and gene expression), but also at concentrations below those previously shown to have any biological effects on fish. These effects indicate that clofibric acid may potentially have an impact on fish fecundity, and even more worryingly, on human health for those people prescribed it.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Assessing and improving the efficacy of BREEAM in relation to ecology

The loss of ecological integrity as a result of urban spread and construction threatens the overall biodiversity of urban areas and prompts us to consider means of better including ecological biodiversity within development projects. The UK’s best practice tool for ensuring the integration of ecology into such projects is the Building Research Establishments Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM). This thesis seeks to identify the efficacy of the current approach to ecological integration within BREEAM, and enable development to foster biodiversity and ecology more positively in the urban environment. Qualitative and quantitative research techniques were used to develop a new approach to the integration of ecology within an existing and nationally recognised model. This began by exploring the efficacy of and the main flaws in the present system by a survey of ecologists with experience of the BREEAM process. This led to a new approach to establishing the ecological value of urban ecology utilising a new calculation methodology, adapting the current scheme to focus on land use change as a result of urban land use planning and development. This new approach utilises habitat changes at its core to measure positive and negative change and indicate potential design solutions in land use planning within a development. The innovative methodology was tested using an in depth case study to review and discuss its effective application. The outcome was a new way to address the important variables of habitat integration and linkages maintaining ecological integrity and provision of ecosystem services. It is considered that the outlined approach of the new Land Use and Ecology section of BREEAM is suitable for integration into the next iteration in 2010, which will enable development to positively foster biodiversity and ecology in the urban environment.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Occurrence and removal of emerging contaminants in wastewaters

Over the past decade, the occurrence and removal of emerging contaminants in the environment has received much attention. Both natural and synthetic progestogens, which are hormones, and also benzotriazoles are two examples of such emerging contaminants. Sewage treatment works are recognised as one of the main routes of these compounds to the environment. Low concentrations (nanograms per litre) of biologically active chemicals may exhibit an impact on aquatic organisms and human health. This study was undertaken to determine the occurrence and removal of these two classes of chemicals at sewage treatment works, along with an evaluation of the performance of advanced treatment and also to investigate their fate in the aquatic environment. Therefore, field-based sampling campaigns were undertaken at a sewage treatment works, rivers and potable water to achieve these aims. Solid phase extraction and LC/MS/MS were used in order to analyse the samples from these different locations, along with catchment modelling and assessment of how the use of benzotriazoles may contribute to their presence in the environment. The results have demonstrated that progestogens and benzotriazoles are in the sewage system; the natural hormone (progesterone) was the most predominant compound entering the sewage treatment work (46.9 ng/l) among the progestogens while concentrations of the benzotriazoles were two orders of magnitude higher than the progestogens. The conventional sewage treatment works were, to some extent, able to remove these compounds from wastewaters. However, this may not be adequate to afford protection to the environment. The investigation of advanced treatments, ozone, granular activated carbon and chlorine dioxide, indicated no further significant removal of progestogens, probably as a result of concentrations being close to method detection limits. However, there were indications that benzotriazoles were removed. A degradation study demonstrated that the natural hormone (progesterone) was degraded rapidly while benzotriazoles were not degraded. Catchment modelling indicated that high (up to 2,000 ng/l) concentrations of benzotriazoles would be present in surface waters used for potable supply, and consequently benzotriazoles were found in the tap water with mean concentrations of 30.9 ng/l (benzotriazole) and 15.1 ng/l for tolyltriazole. It is therefore apparent that although conventional treatment may be seen as effective, achieving over 90% removal, this may not be good enough. However, before investing in tertiary treatment, a number of factors, such as the effectiveness at different sites, the presence of degradation products and costs, both financial and in relation to energy use, need to be considered.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceMinistry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (IRAQ)Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)Severn Trent Water LtdGBUnited Kingdo

Urban and river flooding: Comparison of flood risk management approaches in the UK and China and an assessment of future knowledge needs

Increased urbanisation, economic growth, and long-term climate variability have made both the UK and China more susceptible to urban and river flooding, putting people and property at increased risk. This paper presents a review of the current flooding challenges that are affecting the UK and China and the actions that each country is undertaking to tackle these problems. Particular emphases in this paper are laid on (1) learning from previous flooding events in the UK and China, and (2) which management methodologies are commonly used to reduce flood risk. The paper concludes with a strategic research plan suggested by the authors, together with proposed ways to overcome identified knowledge gaps in flood management. Recommendations briefly comprise the engagement of all stakeholders to ensure a proactive approach to land use planning, early warning systems, and water-sensitive urban design or redesign through more effective policy, multi-level flood models, and data driven models of water quantity and quality

Growing old in England: economic and social issues

This paper examines the economic and social impact of changes in the duration of working life for the 80 per cent of older adults living in urban England. While some people are experiencing extended retirement because of moving out of paid work in their fifties, a growing minority of those beyond the state retirement age continue in paid employment. This paper highlights the considerable challenges for urban policy makers in addressing the economic and social inclusion of all older adults