New Books, Spring-Summer 2005
Aerosols Handbook: Measurement, Dosimetry and Health Effects. Ruzer, Lev S.; Harley, Naomi H. (eds.) 2005. As more attention is dedicated to understanding the occupational health risks associated with the industrial manufacture and use of nanotechnology, this book is a timely presentation of the latest research in the filed of aerosol science. It covers topics on indoor, outdoor and industrial aerosols, including aerosol measurement, deposition, particle size distribution, and biokinetic processes.
Analysis of Changes: 2005 NEC [National Electrical Code]. International Association of Electrical Inspectors. 2004. This reference from the two major authorities on code interpretation helps you plan, execute and evaluate jobs with clear explanations about revised rules in the National Electrical Code.
Bisesi and Kohn's Industrial Hygiene Evaluation Methods. Bisesi, Michael S. 2004. This book introduces basic methods for evaluating work and some non-work environments in order to detect and measure physical, chemical and biological agent, as well as hazardous ergonomic factors. It is an introductory reference for environmental and occupational health and safety students and practitioners.
Carbon Nanotubes: Basic Concepts and Physical Properties. Recih, S.; Thomsen, C.; Maultzsch, J. 2004. This text is an introduction to the physical concepts needed for investigating carbon nanotubes and other one-dimensional solid-state systems. The book gives a combined theoretical and experimental description of topics like luminescence of carbon nanotubes, Raman scattering, and transport measurements.
The Corporate Responsibility Code Book. Leipziger, Deborah. 2003. This book is a guide for companies trying to understand the landscape of corporate responsibility and searching for their own, unique route towards satisfying diverse stakeholders It is aimed at companies developing their own code, but will also be a key tool for companies with a strong track record in corporate responsibility, seeking to understand the interrelationships among codes and standards to create their own corporate vision.
Environmental Management in Organizations: The IEMA Handbook. Brady, John (ed.) 2005. This handbook is a comprehensive and practical reference covering all the main components of environmental management in public and private sector organizations in the UK. Its purpose is to to inform the reader across a wide range of topics, and explain methods and approaches to analyzing an assessing environmental issues. It includes examples to illustrate good practice and it should become a major reference document for environmental practitioners.
Essentials of Medical Geology: Impacts of the Natural Environment on Public Health. Selinus, Olle; Alloway, Brian; Centeno, Jose A.; Finkelman, Robert B.; Fuge, Ron; Lindh, Ulf; Smedley, Pauline (eds.) 2005. This authoritative reference volume emphasizes the importance and interrelationships of geological processes to the health and diseases of humans and animals. Its accessible format fosters better communication between the health and geoscience communities by elucidating the geologic origins and flow of toxic elements in the environment that lead to human exposure through the consumption of food and water. For example, problems of excess intake from drinking water have been encountered for several inorganic compounds, including fluoride in Africa and India; arsenic in certain areas of Argentina, Chile, and Taiwan; selenium in seleniferous areas in the U.S., Venezuela, and China; and nitrate in agricultural areas with heavy use of fertilizers. Environmental influences on vector borne diseases and stormflow water quality influences are also featured. Numerous examples of the environmental influences on human health from across the globe are also presented and discussed in this volume.
Evidence of Harm. Kirby, David. 2005. In the 1990s reported autism cases among American children began spiking, from about 1 in 10,000 in 1987 to a shocking 1 in 166 today. This trend coincided with the addition of several new shots to the nation's already crowded vaccination schedule, grouped together and given soon after birth or in the early months of infancy. Most of these shots contained a little-known preservative called thimerosal, which includes a quantity of the toxin mercury. Evidence of Harm explores the heated controversy over what many parents, physicians, public officials, and educators have called an "epidemic" of afflicted children. Following several families, David Kirby traces their struggle to understand how and why their once-healthy kids rapidly descended into silence or disturbed behavior, often accompanied by severe physical illness. Alarmed by the levels of mercury in the vaccine schedule, these families sought answers from their doctors, from science, from pharmaceutical companies that manufacture vaccines, and finally from the Centers for Disease Control and the Food and Drug Administration-to no avail. But as they dug deeper, the families also found powerful allies in Congress and in the small community of physicians and researchers who believe that the rise of autism and other disorders is linked to toxic levels of mercury that accumulate in the systems of some children.
Gardner's Commercially Important Chemicals: Synonyms, Trade Names, and Properties. Milne, G.W.A. (ed.) 2005. Through eleven editions, Gardner's Chemical Synonyms and Trade Names has become the best-known and most widely used source of information on chemicals in commerce. This companion book reflects the continuing research underlying Gardner's and presents a major expansion of the information provided for individual chemical compounds.
Green Building Products: The GreenSpec(r) Guide to Residential Building Materials. Wilson, Alex; Piepkorn, Mark (eds.) 2005. Here's a comprehensive directory of green building products for home building and remodeling featuring more than 1,400 descriptive listings for products from ag-fiber panels to zero-VOC paints. All phases of residential construction are covered, from sitework to flooring to renewable energy. Products are grouped by function, and each chapter begins with a discussion of key environmental considerations and what to look for in a green product.
Handbook of Detergents, Part B: Environmental Impact. Zoller, Uri. 2004. The second installment of the multivolume Handbook of Detergents deals with the potential environmental impact of detergents as a result of their production, formulation, usage, consumption, and disposal. This volume forms a comprehensive treatise on the multidimensional issues involved and emphasizes the alignment of scientific knowledge with the relevant contemporary data and methodologies in toxicology, ecotoxicology, and environmental risk assessment. With contributions from over 50 experts worldwide, this volume discusses industry procedures involving surfactant and detergent treatments and explores global concerns centering on recent legislative and regulatory developments.
Implementing Codes of Conduct: How Businesses Manage Social Performance in Global Supply Chains. Mamic, Ivanka. 2004. In order to address growing pressures from stakeholders, a number of global companies have adopted codes of conduct with the aim of influencing the practices of their suppliers in less-developed countries and providing a baseline of expected standards. Typically, codes of conduct draw on international labour standards, setting guidelines on a range of issues, including child labour, forced labour, wages and benefits, working hours, disciplinary practices, the right to freedom of association, health and safety, and environmental practices. Notwithstanding the array of initiatives that has emerged, anecdotal evidence suggests that, in many cases, managers both at the company and supplier level have struggled and continue to struggle with the issue of how to implement their codes of conduct. Based on interviews with hundreds of managers, activists, government officials, factory workers and workers’ representatives, Implementing Codes of Conduct represents the most extensive research conducted to date into the emerging nature of corporate social responsibility and global supply chains. Its objective is to provide useful examples and lessons learned to companies, policy-makers and others interested in implementing their own code of conduct or who are actively involved in this field.
Nanofuture: What's Next for Nanotechnology. Hall, J. Storrs. 2005. Flying cars, space travel for everyone, the elimination of poverty and hunger, and powerful new tools to combat disease, and even aging. These are some of the amazing predicted developments of nanotechnology, the coming science of designing and building machines at the molecular and atomic levels. Will this new scientific revolution be for better or worse? Some commentators have described utopias; others have prophesied disaster. Find out the likely reality from an expert, Dr. J. Storrs Hall, in this absorbing insider’s guide to the near future.
The Next Sustainability Wave: Building Boardroom Buy-In. Willard, Bob. 2005. The idea of sustainability has been embraced enthusiastically by some businesses and rejected by others. The first wave of corporate converts to sustainability was driven by a PR crisis perhaps, regulatory pressures, or the founder's personal passion. The next wave, however, requires different drivers if it is to build a critical mass for corporate responsibility in the business community. The Next Sustainability Wave assesses why companies have resisted sustainability strategies and focuses on two emerging drivers that promise to spur corporate commitment to sustainability strategies: * a compelling business case, and * a "perfect storm" of threatening market forces on the horizon that range from climate change to the rising demands of stakeholders. An effective carrot-and-stick duo, these two drivers are both triggering the need for change and providing a vision of business success if the transition to sustainable operations, products, and services is smartly managed.
Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Terrorism: Emergency Response and Public Protection. Byrnes, Mark; King, David; Tierno, Philip M., Jr., 2003. Modern terrorists are increasingly motivated by body count, and are more often than not regliously or ethnically motivated. While politically motivated terrorism tends to limit the amouont of killing in order to maintain supporters' sympathy for a cause, much of today's terrorism is indiscriminate and is designed to inflict massive death and destruction. This trend makes it likely that future terror attacks will include nucelear, chemical or biological weapons. An educated public and properly trained emergency responders can significantly reduce the risks from this new and devastating threat to the free world.
Sustainable Development in Practice: Case Studies for Engineers and Scientists. Azapagic, Adisa; Perdan, Slobodan; Clift, Roland (eds.) 2004. Taking a life cycle approach to address economic, environmental and social issues, this book presents a series of practical case studies drawn from a range of industrial sectors, including water, energy, waste, chemicals, glass and mining and minerals. The key features of the book include:
* Case studies that provide real-world and practical examples for readers to work through
* Coverage of various sustainability issues in both developed and developing countries
* Exploration of the scientific and technical aspects of each issue together with consideration of the economic, environmental and social ramifications.
Sustainability on Campus: Stories and Strategies for Change. Bartlett, Peggy F.; Chase, Geoffrey W. (eds.) 2004. These personal narratives of greening college campuses offer inspiration, motivation, and practical advice. Written by faculty, staff, administrators, and a student, from varying perspectives and reflecting divergent experiences, these stories also map the growing strength of a national movement toward environmental responsibility on campus. Environmental awareness on college and university campuses began with the celebratory consciousness-raising of Earth Day, 1970. Since then environmental action on campus has been both global (in research and policy formation) and local (in efforts to make specific environmental improvements on campuses). The stories in this book show that achieving environmental sustainability is not a matter of applying the formulas of risk management or engineering technology but part of what the editors call "the messy reality of participatory engagement in cultural transformation."
To Your Health: How to Understand What Research Tells Us About Risk. Kraemer, Helena Chmura; Lowe, Karen Kraemer; Kupfer, David J. 2005. The public is bombarded daily with reports about risk factors, many conflicting with each other, others accepted as "scientific truth" for awhile, then scientifically disproved, yet others questionable that later prove to be true. Physicians are faced with trying to make sense of those conflicting or questionable results in the scientific literature in order to guide their patients to the best possible decisions. The situation is not much easier for scientists who may waste years of their productive life, and considerable resources, basing their research efforts on what prove to be misleading earlier research findings. What this book does is to present, in non "academese" and with many examples from the general media and scientific journals, a guide to a critical reading of research reports, which, in turn, serves as a guide to researchers as to which approaches are likely to be regarded with raised eyebrows, and what they need to do to generate results that will be taken seriously. This stimulating and helpful book was written for informed consumers and physicians as well as for scientists evaluating the risk research literature or contemplating projects on risk research.
This page updated Tuesday June 19 2007