Call for Session Proposals is closed.
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SESEH
2012 Call for Sessions and Abstracts Poster;
SESEH 2012 Guidelines for Session and Workshop
Convenors;
SESEH 2012 Session and Workshop Proposal Submission Form
Besides the wide range of themes and topics,
SESEH 2012 contains a large number of organized sessions, supported by
internationally active experts in the field of environment and health.
Session convenors and their topics are approved by Chair of SESEH 2012.
Delegates invited by a session convenor are recognised as "invited
delegates" of SESEH 2012. Invited delegates are required to submit their
abstracts under the session convenor's name and topic via the
online abstract submission system.
Approved organized sessions are
listed as follows in the alphabetic order of corresponding session convenors' names
(shown with a *).
Convenor(s): Chen, Jianmin*; Yang, Xin; Mellouki, Wahid
Topic: Aerosol Chemistry and Health Impact
Aerosol plays an important role in air quality and public health. Organic
and inorganic compositions in aerosols may change a lot in different
regions due to aerosol chemistry. Although epidemiological studies have
identified serious health risks, there is still uncertainty as to which
particle components among OC, EC, sulfate, ammonium, metal ions, are most
harmful. This session highlights the chemical process and components by
the temporal sparseness of aerosols data available from the field
measurements and epidemiological studies. Comparisons of aerosol particle
constituents associated with morbid states and mortality in different
polluted circumstances are of greater concerns.
Convenor(s): Clements-Croome, Derek*
Topic: Environmental Health in Buildings
This session will present and discuss the various factors which
contribute to the health and well-being of occupants in buildings.
Healthy mind and body are essential for effective concentration and
hence the work performance of people. Following the early work of Maslow
on the physiological and psychological needs of individuals the factors
contributing to meet these needs when designing and managing buildings
will be discussed starting with trying to understand how we perceive and
sense our environment. There is much research by academics and
practitioners showing that the environments we create affect us mentally
in both the cognitive and emotional modes of consciousness as well as
physically. Ways of making the ambience in buildings more uplifting,
soulful and refreshing will be discussed. The conclusions will be sent
to the Royal British Institute of Architects and the Chartered
Institution of Building Services Engineers for them to consider and
include in their guidelines for design.
Convenor(s): Clifford, Eoghan*; O’Reilly, Edmond
Topic: New sustainable technologies for decentralised wastewater and
sludge treatment
This session will focus on the development, from laboratory to pilot
scale, of new technologies for wastewater and sludge treatment. Abstracts
should focus on the novel aspects of the technology, its commercial
potential, the energy and operation requirements and the technologies’
treatment performance. Particular attention will be on technologies that
are energy efficient, robust and have simple maintenance and operation
demands and are suitable for remote control and operation. Technologies
should be suitable for decentralised wastewater treatment.
Convenor(s): Diamond, Dermot*
Topic:
Sensor Networks for Distributed Environmental Monitoring
This session will focus on emerging technologies for harvesting
information about the quality of our environment, particularly
distributed sensing of environmental chemistry and biology using
chemical sensors and biosensors. Topics will include Current status of
autonomous chemical sensing and biosensing platforms; Examples of
existing sensor platforms and deployments; Integration of terrestrial
sensor networks and satellite based remote sensing; Visualisation of
environmental sensed data; Challenges and potential solutions to
realisation of widely deployed chemo/bio-sensor networks; futuristic
perspectives on chemo/bio-sensor platforms such as biomimetic systems,
materials and fluidics.
Convenor(s): Ding, Shiming*
Topic: Sediment pollution and remediation
Increased population and intensified agriculture and industry have led to
enhanced inorganic and organic pollutant inputs and their increasing
accumulation in sediments. The resulted sediment pollution causes a
resistant deterioration to water quality and has notably delayed the
restoration of many aqueous systems in China and Europe. This proposed
session aims to provide a platform to explore the state-of-the-art in
sediment pollution for the major pollutants (nutrients, heavy metals and
persistent organic compounds) and the advanced techniques for their
pollution control. The details may include the cycling of pollutants and
their flux processes between sediment and water, and physical, chemical,
and biological restoration techniques developed for controlling sediment
pollution. This session accepts both research and review paper on the
recent progresses. The interaction between sediment and water for
pollutants, as well as technologies with high remediation efficiency and
reasonable cost, are highly welcomed.
Convenor(s): Dogan, A. Umran*; Dogan, Meral
Topic:
Medical Mineralogy
Quantitative medical mineralogy deals with quantitatively characterizing
health hazard minerals and elements which contaminates our environments
including soil, air, water. It is essential to characterize these
minerals/elements quantitatively before they can be used in animal and
cell experiments. The results of these experiments eventually will help
decision makers of civil and government organizations to set up the
threshold values for carcinogenicity/toxicity.
Convenor(s): Dong*, Sijun
Topic:
Environmental Molecular Toxicology
This session will focus on recent advances in the application of in
vitro and in virvo models for assessment of mechanisms of
toxicities for chemicals of global and emerging concern, unravelling the
susceptibility of different life stages to environmental chemicals,
their lifelong impacts and trans-generation consequences. The session
will provide a platform to discuss the challenges ahead to incorporate
“omics” technologies in toxicology, and to apply toxicity pathway data
in risk assessment.
Convenor(s): Belviso, Claudia; Fiore, Saverio*
Topic: Clays & Zeolites: Environmental & Medical Uses
Clays and zeolites are used in numerous environmental application due
to their structure, ionic exchange and catalytic properties. These
minerals have also received great attention in medical application because
of their biological properties, low toxicity and high compatibility. This
session will highlight the recent research activities on clays and
synthetic-natural zeolites in environmental and medical applications
providing a forum to promote a discussion on the role these minerals play
in toxic organic and inorganic element immobilization and on their effects
upon human health.
Convenor(s): Griffiths, Bryan*; Zhang, Bin
Topic: Land use and the soil environment
Human intervention to our soils can be considered a necessary evil, in
that it is essential for crop production, remediating contaminated lands
and maintaining landscapes yet it can also lead to polluted watercourses
and greenhouse gas emissions. In this session we have matching experts
from China and Europe to give perspectives on current research in the
areas of: greenhouse gas emissions form agriculture; remediation of
contaminated soil; land management impacts on soil biology; and soil
biophysics (the connection between soil physical properties and biological
activity in soil); with a view to encouraging the sustainable use of
soils.
Convenor(s): Healy, Mark G.*
Topic: Nutrients, soils and the environment
This session will focus on surface and subsurface processes with a
particular interest in erosion and surface runoff of nutrients, solids and
metals, and leaching of nutrients through soil. In addition, it may look
at carbon sequestration in soils and greenhouse gas emissions resulting
from agricultural practices.
Convenor(s): Kan, Haidong*; Song, Weimin
Topic: Climate change, air pollution and population health
Climate change threatens the health of human populations throughout the
world, particularly those in low-income countries such as China. Because
many sources of greenhouse gases (GHGs) are also sources of air pollutants
that can damage health, policies to reduce GHG emissions could often have
more immediate and potentially large beneficial effects on human health.
In this proposed session, scientists from China and Europe will gather
together and present their studies on the health effects of climate change
and air pollution. Discussion priorities may include the heterogeneity of
the health impact of air pollution and climate change in China and Europe,
interaction between air pollution and climate change in affecting human
health, co-benefit analysis of low-carbon policy and potential
collaboration between scientists in the two regions.
Topic: Environment & Health on Molecular Level
The toxic interaction or evaluation of environmental pollutants target to
the living organism investigated on molecular level, which including
evaluation methods, monitoring, cure process.
Convenor(s): Lucy, Frances*; de Waal, Theo
Topic: Searching for the Sources – Cryptosporidium in Ireland’s
Environment
This session will explore recent research on Cryptosporidium in Ireland.
This pathogen (C. parvum and C. hominis) is responsible for the notifiable
human disease cryptosporidiosis, which also occurs in lambs and calves.
EPA funding (over several years) has promoted research at IT Sligo and UCD,
focussing on environmental sources, notably waste-water end-products and
young farm animals. Human samples were also analysed to assess links via
genotyping. The presentations and posters in this session will detail this
research and also deal with relevant public health aspects.
Convenor(s): Marsili, Enrico*; Erable, Benjamin
Topic: Electroactive biofilms
Electroactive biofilms (EABs) are composed of microorganisms capable of
electron transfer to solid metals and electrodes. EABs are relevant to
bioremediation, bioelectricity production, biosensors, and microbially
influenced corrosion. In this interdisciplinary session, a diverse pool of
microbiologists, biochemists, and physical chemists will present the
latest fundamental results in microbial electron transfer and
bioelectrointerfaces. Presentations that focus on the electron transfer
mechanism, EAB characterization methods, and microbial ecology of EABs are
also invited.
Convenor(s): Marsili, Enrico*; Erable, Benjamin
Topic: Beyond electricity: Microbial Fuel Cells for bioremediation and
bioelectrosynthesis
Microbial electrocatalysis deals with the catalytic reactions that occur
at the interface biofilm/electrode. Early applications of this idea in
Microbial Fuel Cells aimed to produce electricity from degradation of low
cost feedstock or wastewater. However, these systems have generated some
scepticism with regard to the electrical power they can produce in
large-scale deployment. Current research explores the application of
microbial fuel cell to bioremediation and bioelectrosynthesis of high
added-value chemicals, and biofuels production. In the session, a mixed
group of microbiologists, electrochemists, and technologists will present
the most recent applications and the emerging technologies in this highly
interdisciplinary area.
Convenor(s): O’ Donoghue, Lisa*; Leen, Joseph
Topic: WEEE and Battery Recycling
EU legislation restricts the use of hazardous substances in electrical and
electronic equipment and promotes the collection and recycling of such
equipment at the end of their life. This workshop invites discussion on
the WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) directive, the
Battery directive and also the REACH directive. The former two directives
focus on the successful treatment and recycling of the products they
cover. While the latter requires that heavy metals such as lead, mercury,
cadmium, hexavalent chromium and flame retardants such as polybrominated
biphenyls (PBB) or polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) to be substituted
by safer alternatives. This workshop is open to those who are researching
handling/processing any of the above, reviewing the current state of
industry in Ireland, the EU or Globally and those who are developing state
of the art solutions, environmental technologies and strategies to
facilitate the directives goals.
Convenor(s):
Peng, Xianzhi*
Topic:
Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in the environment
As emerging contaminants, PPCPs in the environment has attracted
increasing concern due to the negative potential, such as endocrine
disrupting effects and non-target toxicity. This session focuses on
occurrence, behaviour, and fate of PPCPs in the environment, including
water, sediment, soil, and biota. Studies of toxicity and new analytical
methods are also included.
Topic:
Organochlorined Pesticides Transportation
This session focuses on organochlorined pesticides transportation
at regional scale. Specific topics include transportation of
organochlorined pesticides between basin and mountain, watershed and bay,
soil and air, air and water, etc.
Convenor(s): Quinn, Mary Kelly*
Topic: Land-use pressures on surface water quality - sources, pathways,
impacts & mitigation
This session will focus on the impact of land-use pressures on the
hydrochemical and ecological quality of surface waters. Papers may deal
with the identification of sources of pressure, the pathway of transfer to
the aquatic environment and the link between input and impact. Of
particular interest is research dealing with measures to mitigate impact
of point and diffuse sources of pollution, from catchment to reach scale.
Convenor(s): Sheehan, David*
Topic: New Frontiers of Omics Technologies in Environmental Science
Environmental stress, particularly arising from chemical pollution
(including emerging threats such as nanoparticles and endocrine
disruptors), climate change and habitat loss can be evident at all
levels of biological organisation worldwide. –OMICs technologies focus
on detection of changes at the level of genes (genomics), mRNA (transcriptomics),
proteins (proteomics) and small Mr metabolites (metabolomics). There is
growing interest in Europe, China, the Americas and elsewhere in the
potential of these approaches to reveal acute and chronic stress effects
at the subcellular level which could shed light on stress mechanisms.
This session will focus on new approaches in –OMICS technologies as well
as illustrative case-studies of their application.
Convenor(s): Shen, Heqing*
Topic: Environment
genetic/epigenetic interactions
Focus on the environmental factors,
esp., environmental pollutants affect on gene (DNA toxicity) and gene
expression via epigenetic pathways. The topic will be on in vitro, in vivo
or population based studies or the other relevant researches.
Convenor(s):Sodeau, John *
Topic: Impacts of Biological and
Chemical Particulates in Air
There is an increasing societal
requirement for reliable chemical and biological, especially particulate,
monitoring of air. The fundamental aims of such programmes are clear:
identifying, quantifying and controlling health hazards in places that we
occupy both indoors and outdoors. The characterisation of our exposure to
chemical and biological agents requires reliable sampling and modelling
strategies to be devised. These must be built on sensitive, selective and
user-friendly experimental and computational methodologies. In fact in
recent years there have been continuous and novel developments in all of
the relevant fields, including instrumentation, that underpin this topic.
After the studies have been completed it is essential to disseminate the
information, data and knowledge gathered from the newly developed methods
and strategies to the widest possible audience. By this means it is
possible to turn fundamental scientific results into valuable legislative
instruments relevant to airborne pollution events that can occur
throughout the world.
Convenor(s): Wang, Lin*; Chai,
Fahe; Zhang, Renyi
Topic: Nucleation, Growth, and
Aging of Atmospheric Aerosols
Atmospheric aerosols impair
visibility, alter the radioative balance of the Earth's atmosphere and
modify the microphysical properties, abundance and lifetime of clouds.
However, the processes leading to nucleation, growth and aging of
atmospheric aerosols are poorly understood. While the importance of a
number of chemical species and processes is well known, the identities of
others that likely have similar atmospheric importance remain highly
uncertain. This session solicits contributions that highlight the
identification of key species and processes, currently ignored in
atmospheric models. Findings from laboratory studies, theoretical
calculation, process modelling, and field measurements that describe new
particle formation and multiphase chemistry are sought.
Topic: Soil threats (e.g. erosion,
compaction, sealing, (stony) desertification, loss of organic carbon,
landslide)
Changing climate conditions
(particularly extremely events frequently occurred) and intensifying human
activities continuously put heavy stress on soil qualities. Assessment and
management of soil services and functions are becoming a hot topic. This
session will include, but not limited to, threats to soils caused by soil
erosion, compaction, sealing, (stony) desertification, organic carbon loss
and landslide in a changing world. Both monitoring and modelling of these
threats at different scales are welcome.
Convenor(s): Zhao, Feng; Yu,
Chang-Ping*
Topic: Innovative Technologies in
Wastewater Treatment
Speakers will share the latest
development in wastewater treatment, including electricity generation,
bioenergy production, new treatment processes, nutrient removal and
recovery etc.
Convenor(s): Zhao, Yaqian*;
Segura, Yolanda
Topic: Smart wastewater treatment
approaches
Wastewater treatment requires a
sustainable approach that minimizes its energy consumption, recovers
useful elements and reuses the by-products from other industries. This
session will focus on the smart wastewater treatment technologies with
promising and prospective impact on sustainable development.
Convenor(s): Zhu, Duanwei*;
Zhou, Yiyong
Topic: Environmental Chemistry and
Recovery of Water Ecology
There are many problems in
environmental chemical field which effect properties of sediments, quality
of overlying water and health and growth of aquatic animals and plants.
All of sediments, waters and aquatic animals and plants compose an
integrated ecological system and the relative elements and substances
transfer and translate in the system. Unbalance of the system causes the
above problems which we must be up against and resolve.
