A Tale of Two Conferences: Dioxin 2014 & Soils, Sediments, Water, and Energy

This summer and fall M&A attended two conferences. Both were exciting opportunities connect with great people. A brief synopsis of the conferences and some recent work is given below:

 Dioxin 2014

Madrid, Spain: August 31^st –September 5^th

 

Dr. Takeshi Nakano of Osaka University and Dr. Parette of M&A

Dioxin 2014, also known as the 34th International Symposium on Halogenated Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), brought together regulators, scientists, and academics to present and share new insights, lessons learned, and future areas of study concerning past and present POPs. Topics ranging from toxicology to regulation, and from fate and transport to coverage of emerging contaminants was fodder for this international conference focused on advancing scientific knowledge and protecting human health and the environment.

See the final program here. Dioxin 2015 is slated for August 23-28 São Paulo, Brazil.

30^th Annual International Conference on Soils, Sediments, Water, and Energy

Hosted by the Association for Environmental Health and Sciences Foundation

Amherst, Massachusetts: October 20^th – 23^rd

One of two conferences hosted by AEHS, the conference attracted a diverse group of attendees from government, industry, academia, and the professional consulting sphere. With a strong technical program featuring presentations and workshops on remediation, risk assessments, and life cycle analysis, the conference also included session topics on regulation and policy.

In this latter category, I presented the poster, “Phasing Out PCBs: Regional Efforts, Federal Policy, and Moving Forward” on behalf of Wendy Pearson and myself. Over the last two years at M&A part of my work has focused on the legislative and regulatory history of PCBs with attention to their current legacy: i.e., millions of pounds of electrical equipment still in use with limited knowledge of geographic and numerical distribution; and continued contamination of various media after nearly 40 years of restriction. The challenge that continued usage presents is highlighted by the struggles of regional and state governments to meet water quality goals under the Clean Water Act. The poster summarized this and presented some regional solutions as well as predictions on PCB policies in the future in light of Stockholm deadlines, TSCA Reform, and the EPA’s current regulatory efforts. 

The Conference offered great speakers, excellent networking opportunities, and truly engaging presentations. See the final program here, and consider submitting an abstract in December for next year’s conference (October 19-22, 2015).