Donna Green

Misled about lead: an assessment of online public health education material from Australia’s lead mining and smelting towns

BackgroundThis study assesses the accuracy and comprehensiveness of online public health education materials from the three Australian cities with active lead mines and or smelters: Broken Hill, Mount Isa and Port Pirie.MethodsQualitative content analysis of online Australian material with comparison to international best practice where possible.ResultsAll materials provided incomplete information about the health effects of lead and pathways of exposure compared to best practice materials. Inconsistent strategies to reduce exposure to lead were identified among the Australian cities, and some evidence-based best practices were not included. The materials normalised environmental lead and neglected to identify that there is no safe level of lead, or that primary prevention is the best strategy for protecting children’s health.ConclusionsHealth education materials need to clearly state health risks from lead across developmental stages and for sensitive populations, integrate a primary prevention perspective, and provide comprehensive evidence-based recommendations for reducing lead exposure in and around the home. Families who rely on information provided by these online public education materials are likely to be inadequately informed about the importance of protecting their children from exposure to lead and strategies for doing so.

Thailand's solar white elephants: an analysis of 15 yr of solar battery charging programmes in northern Thailand

The use of decentralised renewable energy technologies to provide rural electrification in developing countries has been a common topic of analysis and policy debate for more than two decades. Unfortunately, a lack of empirical evidence about the field performance of these technologies is a significant barrier to making sound policy decisions about them. Compounded by minimal information sharing between stakeholders, this situation has frequently allowed duplication of inefficient policies. This issue is addressed here by providing empirical evidence gathered from field visits and interviews about the largest government subsidised solar battery charging programme in the world. This analysis highlights the different policies of departments responsible and discusses them with specific attention to their technical, social and economic components. Field study results from over 50 villages in the north of Thailand suggest about 60 per cent of these systems are no longer operational. Many of the technical failures observed are attributed to social factors, as well as flawed implementation strategies.

Bridging the gap between theory and practice in climate change vulnerability assessments for remote Indigenous communities in northern Australia

This paper considers the Australian federal governments approach to climate adaptation policy for remote northern Indigenous communities through the close examination of a seminal Scoping Study. This approach is taken to illustrate the lag between adaptation theory and practice, and to highlight important considerations to enable the development of a just and effective policy. The analysis suggests that policy in this area would benefit from the further consideration of three factors, namely the role of uncertainty in climate policy, the need for meaningful consultation with communities, and the benefit of integrating contextual and bottom-up assessment of vulnerability with decision-making in an iterative manner. The paper concludes by suggesting that the current approach to vulnerability assessment is insufficiently nuanced to allow an adequate appreciation of factors that influence social vulnerability in remote communities, and consequently, policy developed from it is likely to be ineffective.

Australia's first national level quantitative environmental justice assessment of industrial air pollution

This study presents the first national level quantitative environmental justice assessment of industrial air pollution in Australia. Specifically, our analysis links the spatial distribution of sites and emissions associated with industrial pollution sources derived from the National Pollution Inventory, to Indigenous status and social disadvantage characteristics of communities derived from Australian Bureau of Statistics indicators. Our results reveal a clear national pattern of environmental injustice based on the locations of industrial pollution sources, as well as volume, and toxicity of air pollution released at these locations. Communities with the highest number of polluting sites, emission volume, and toxicity-weighted air emissions indicate significantly greater proportions of Indigenous population and higher levels of socio-economic disadvantage. The quantities and toxicities of industrial air pollution are particularly higher in communities with the lowest levels of educational attainment and occupational status. These findings emphasize the need for more detailed analysis in specific regions and communities where socially disadvantaged groups are disproportionately impacted by industrial air pollution. Our empirical findings also underscore the growing necessity to incorporate environmental justice considerations in environmental planning and policy-making in Australia.

Effect of ambient temperature on Australian northern territory public hospital admissions for cardiovascular disease among indigenous and non-indigenous populations

Hospitalisations are associated with ambient temperature, but little is known about responses in population sub-groups. In this study, heat responses for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in two age groups were examined for two categories of cardiac diseases using daily hospital admissions from five Northern Territory hospitals (1992–2011). Admission rates during the hottest five per cent of days and the coolest five per cent of days were compared with rates at other times. Among 25–64 year olds, the Indigenous female population was more adversely affected by very hot days than the non-Indigenous female population, with admission rates for ischaemic heart disease (IHD) increasing by 32%. People older than 65 were more sensitive to cold, with non-Indigenous male admissions for heart failure increasing by 64%, and for IHD by 29%. For older Indigenous males, IHD admissions increased by 52% during cold conditions. For older non-Indigenous females, increases in admissions for heart failure were around 50% on these cold days, and 64% for older Indigenous females. We conclude that under projected climate change conditions, admissions for IHD amongst younger Indigenous people would increase in hot conditions, while admissions among elderly people during cold weather may be reduced. The responses to temperature, while showing significant relationships across the Northern Territory, may vary by region. These variations were not explored in this assessment.

Living on Climate-Changed Country: Indigenous Health, Well-Being and Climate Change in Remote Australian Communities

Closing the gap between the health and well-being status of Indigenous people living in remote areas of northern Australia and non-Indigenous Australians has long been a major target of federal health policy. With climate projections suggesting large increases in hot spells in desert regions and more extremes in rainfall in other areas of the north, direct and indirect impacts resulting from these changes are likely to further entrench this health and well-being disparity. This paper argues that it is time to explicitly draw on Indigenous definitions of health, which directly address the need to connect individual and community health to the health of their country, in order to develop effective climate adaptation and health strategies. We detail how current health policies overlook this ‘missing’ dimension of Indigenous connection to country, and why that is likely to be detrimental to the health and well-being of people living in remote communities in a climate-changed future.

Temperature and Humidity Effects on Hospital Morbidity in Darwin, Australia

BACKGROUND Many studies have explored the relationship between temperature and health in the context of a changing climate, but few have considered the effects of humidity, particularly in tropical locations, on human health and well-being. To investigate this potential relationship, this study assessed the main and interacting effects of daily temperature and humidity on hospital admission rates for selected heat-relevant diagnoses in Darwin, Australia. METHODS Univariate and bivariate Poisson generalized linear models were used to find statistically significant predictors and the admission rates within bins of predictors were compared to explore nonlinear effects. FINDINGS The analysis indicated that nighttime humidity was the most statistically significant predictor (P < 0.001), followed by daytime temperature and average daily humidity (P < 0.05). There was no evidence of a significant interaction between them or other predictors. The nighttime humidity effect appeared to be strongly nonlinear: Hot days appeared to have higher admission rates when they were preceded by high nighttime humidity. CONCLUSIONS From this analysis, we suggest that heat-health policies in tropical regions similar to Darwin need to accommodate the effects of temperature and humidity at different times of day.

Cross cultural technology transfer of sustainable energy systems: A critical analysis

This paper investigates the difficulties that have been encountered when non indigenous renewable energy technologies have been transferred to rural areas of industrialising countries. Specifically, it focuses on the cultural and organisational aspects of these technologies. Another dimension analysed is that of the interactions between the various stakeholders in the technology transfer process. There has been a lack of attention to these interactions, specifically a neglect to consult with the end users of the systems by the project implementers. The importance of addressing this fundamental deficiency cannot be over emphasised in the need to redress the performance of the transfer process. The lack of appropriate institutional support mechanisms and financial resources can work in synergism with this former factor. In conclusion, an assessment is made of the most appropriate technology transfer mechanisms for these systems, which are likely to expedite sustainable rates of dissemination to the intended benefactors. This assessment incorporates the earlier findings on the social and institutional barriers to successful transfers, and the mechanisms used by the various agents to perform the transfer, as these have a significant impact on the viability of the renewable energy systems.

Australians are not equally protected from industrial air pollution

Australian air pollution standards are set at national and state levels for a number of chemicals harmful to human health. However, these standards do not need to be met when ad hoc pollution licences are issued by state environment agencies. This situation results in a highly unequal distribution of air pollution between towns and cities, and across the country. This paper examines these pollution regulations through two case studies, specifically considering the ability of the regulatory regime to protect human health from lead and sulphur dioxide pollution in the communities located around smelters. It also considers how the proposed National Clean Air Agreement, once enacted, might serve to reduce this pollution equity problem. Through the case studies we show that there are at least three discrete concerns relating to the current licencing system. They are: non-onerous emission thresholds for polluting industry; temporal averaging thresholds masking emission spikes; and ineffective penalties for breaching licence agreements. In conclusion, we propose a set of new, legally-binding national minimum standards for industrial air pollutants must be developed and enforced, which can only be modified by more (not less) stringent state licence arrangements.

The Australian National Pollutant Inventory Fails to Fulfil Its Legislated Goals

Publically accessible pollution databases, such as the Australian National Pollutant Inventory, contain information on chemical emissions released by industrial facility and diffuse sources. They are meant to enable public scrutiny of industrial activity, which in turn, is meant to lead to industries reducing their pollution. In Australia, however, concerns have been consistently raised that this process is not occurring. To assess whether Australia’s National Pollutant Inventory is fulfilling its legislated goals, we examined the accuracy and consistency of the largest facility and diffuse source of airborne lead, a major pollutant of concern for public health. Our analysis found that the emissions estimates provided by the Inventory were not accurate and were not consistent with other sources of emissions within the Inventory, potentially distorting any user interpretation of emissions estimates provided by the National Pollutant Inventory. We conclude that for at least these important public health pollution sources, the Inventory does not fulfil its legislated goals.