This paper evaluates the effectiveness of the Mexican Clean Industry Program, in which firms participate voluntarily if they are willing to meet the pollution emissions legal standards in exchange for a Clean Industry Certificate. It first develops a simple model with two groups of players, firms and the authorities. Firms can choose to be in compliance, non compliance or participate in the pro...

BACKGROUND Growing evidence suggests that air pollution may be a risk factor for breast cancer, but the biological mechanism remains unknown. High mammographic density (MD) is one of the strongest predictors and biomarkers of breast cancer risk, but it has yet to be linked to air pollution. We investigated the association between long-term exposure to traffic-related air pollution and MD in a p...

The objective of the study was to determine whether long-term metal pollution affects communities of epigeal spiders (Aranea), studied at three taxonomic levels: species, genera, and families. Biodiversity was defined by three indices: the Hierarchical Richness Index (HRI), Margalef index (D(M)) and Pielou evenness index (J). In different ways the indices describe taxa richness and the distribu...

Nonpoint source water pollution generated by agricultural production is considered a major environmental issue in the United States and Europe. One strategy in the United States has been to adopt various measures, called best management practices (BMPs), to reduce water pollution. Our research addresses legal institutions and the applied use of BMPs, and discusses compensatory payments to reduc...

Phytoremediation is a biological method to improve soils contaminated with heavy metals. The objective of the present research was to study the capability of Vetiver grass and Tall Fescue in refining and reducing pollution of Cd, Cu and Zn from contaminated soils. The research was implemented in greenhouse during two separate tests (Vetiver grass and Tall Fescue) in a completely randomized desi...

The concentration-response relationship between daily ambient inhalable particle (particulate matter less than or equal to 10 micro m; PM(10)) concentrations and daily mortality typically shows no evidence of a threshold concentration below which no relationship is observed. However, the power to assess a relationship at very low concentrations of PM(10) has been limited in studies to date. The...

BACKGROUND Air pollution is known to be a leading cause of respiratory symptoms. Many cross-sectional studies reported that air pollution caused respiratory disease in Japanese individuals in the 1960s. Japan has laws regulating air pollution levels and providing compensation for victims of pollution-related respiratory disease. However, long-term changes in respiratory function and symptoms in...

Industrial activities and high traffic density are the most important heavy metal pollution sources in urban areas. Roadside dust created by atmospheric deposition can be one of the best indicators for heavy metal contamination levels. The present study reports the spatial distribution patterns and degree of heavy metal pollution (Cd, Cr, Ni, Pb, Zn, and As) in 50 roadside dust samples from urb...