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The world community has long striven for the liquidation of chemical weapons of mass destruction. The 1925 Geneva treaty “On the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other Gases, and of Bacterial Methods of Warfare” was the first international accord on chemical weapons prohibition. Signed by 125 countries, the USSR ratified the treaty in December 1927. The later development of the “Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and their Destruction” (henceforth “the Convention”) followed this early step and was undertaken with Russia's active participation. The Convention was signed by the Russian Federation in January 1993 and ratified by the State Duma in November 1997 with the decision to end chemical weapons stockpiling by 2007. As a signatory, Russia accepted international responsibilities for solving many interrelated problems, paramount among them was the protection of people and the environment (The Convention…, 1994, item 4).

Research at the intersection of neurotoxicology, cognitive neuroscience, genetics, and behavior – “toxicogenomics” – promises to improve understanding of behavior and public policies. Many toxicants modify neurotransmitters with effects depending on genotype, development, and experience. For example, lead and manganese downregulate dopaminergic or serotonergic function, weaken behavioral inhibition, and are positively correlated with hyperactivity (ADHD), substance abuse, or violent crime. Within this context, the chapter argues that neurotoxicology holds great promise for improving public policies in areas such as criminal justice and education. After discussing research methods, the chapter surveys previous work in neurotoxicology as it pertains to educational outcomes and to crime. Data are summarized linking: (1) children's blood lead levels with poor educational performance; (2) hair and blood levels of heavy metals with violent crime; and (3) uptake of multiple toxicants with pollution from abandoned mines. The chapter concludes by drawing lessons for ongoing research agendas at the intersection of neurotoxins, behavior, and policy.

In the United States, nearly 50,000 pounds of waste per person is produced annually, for a total of approximately 6 billion tons of waste, one ton for each person living on the planet Earth. But not all wastes are created equal. U.S. businesses generate some 100 pounds of toxic and hazardous waste per day for every American resident. The impacts of municipal solid waste combine with the legacy of toxins released through pre-production, industrial production, transportation, releases and spills, direct use, byproduct wastes, and end use wastes.

Chlorine is a liquefied gas, and is stored in large quantities for use in the chemical industry or in water treatment (e.g. the chlorination of swimming‐pool water). Chlorine is highly toxic and if released accidentally has the potential to kill or injure people in the vicinity of the storage tank. A geographic information system (GIS) is used to determine the impact of the release of chlorine from a tank in the area surrounding a swimming‐pool at the University Putra Malaysia (UPM). Spatial impact is determined using GIS software (GeoMedia Professional 5.1). Spatial analysis and buffering command are performed to locate affected residential areas near the UPM swimming‐pool. The findings mean that the affected residential area and its population can be evacuated more quickly and smoothly.

The problem of workers at risk should be reframed to reflect the impact of social stratification, power relations and divergent interests in occupational health practices. The past two decades have seen rapid developments in technology for detecting genetic traits and abnormalities in individuals that may indicate damage from chemical exposure. Occupational physicians, industrial managers and biomedical scientists increasingly favour this technology. However these methods have only selective appeal and are quite controversial. Their accuracy in identifying high‐risk workers is disputed as well as their value and consequences. Social factors that shape the way workers at risk have been defined are discussed. These social processes help to explain the way issues of risk are framed and industrial practices are conducted. They also explain patterns of support and opposition to genetic technology.

The main objective of this paper is to introduce the development of a decision‐support environment for a complex problem: space range safety. Simulation modeling can provide a good environment to support range safety managers.

The paper describes the different models and the processes to find the different knowledge sources. In addition, it investigates statistically the most important factors. This will help determine emergency management procedures and sources of variability.

This case study provides guidance and an example to follow for other problems in aerospace (in particular new the analysis of new vehicles). There are important factors to consider in order to implement risk management in National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

There are several limitations; blast and debris effects need to be added.

First, it provides a guide in order to persuade managers of the utilization of decision‐support systems based on geographical information systems. Second, it shows that there is open source software (Calpuff in our environment) which can be used and integrated to make a more comprehensive environment. Validation is a big issue. In addition, simulation can help make decisions about future vehicles or events.

This is the first implementation of a virtual range (there is not an integrated system similar to this one available). This will be valuable to other safety managers not only for space exploration but also environmentalists and homeland security managers.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in the opening quote reminds us that despite the medical and public health gains of recent decades, benefits have not accrued to the most vulnerable of citizens, children (DeYoung & Lynch, 2002). For decades research has quantified the links between poverty, ill-health and the global burdens imposed by disease. Yet, the distribution of poverty and disease has changed little over the last thirty years, continuing to be concentrated among poor children in both emerging and developed nations (Bellamy, 1999; Brundtland, 1999). Fundamentally, the complex web of poverty relegates youth to a lifetime of suffering because of the relationships between and among resources, health and neurological development.

The main objective of this paper is to introduce the development of a decision‐support environment for space range safety. Simulation modeling can provide a good environment to support disaster and prevention management.

The paper describes the different models and the processes to find the different knowledge sources. This will help determine emergency management procedures.

This case study provides guidance and an example to follow for other problems in aerospace. There are important factors to consider in order to implement risk management in NASA.

There are several limitations; first debris effects need to be added.

First, the paper provides a guide in order to persuade managers of the utilization of decision support systems based on geographical information systems. Second, it shows that there is open source software which can be used and integrated to make a more comprehensive environment. Validation is a big issue.

This is the first implementation of a virtual range. This will be valuable to other safety managers not only aerospace but also environmentalists and homeland security managers.

In this chapter we explore some of the intriguing questions raised by contaminated communities. Is there a connection between exposure to environmental hazards and psychological distress? If yes, how best can it be measured? What kinds of psychological problems are aggravated by this kind of life stress? How do we know that victims are truly experiencing increased problems such as anxiety, depression and fears about their health?

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the reliability of the quantitative risk model used for planning inspection and maintenance activities. The objective is to critically discuss the factors that contribute to the probability and consequence of failure calculations.

The case study conducted using one of the most widely deployed risk models in the oil and gas industry where a full assessment was performed on an offshore gas producing platform.

The generic failure frequencies used as the basis for calculating the probability of failure are set at a value representative of the refining and petrochemical industry's failure data. This failure database does not cover offshore. The critical discussion indicated the lack of basis of the coefficient of variances, prior probabilities and conditional probabilities. Moreover, the risk model does not address the distribution of thickness measurements, corrosion rates and inspection effectiveness, whereas only overall deterministic values are used; this requires judgment to determine these values. Probabilities of ignition, probabilities of delayed ignition and other probabilities in Level 1 event tree are found selected based on expert judgment for each of the reference fluids and release types (i.e. continuous or instantaneous). These probabilities are constant and independent of the release rate or mass and lack of constructed model. Defining the release type is critical in the consequence of the failure methodology, whereas the calculated consequences differ greatly depending on the type of release, i.e. continuous or instantaneous. The assessment results show that both criteria of defining the type of release, i.e. continuous or instantaneous, do not affect the calculations of flammable consequences when the auto-ignition likely is zero at the storage temperature. While, the difference in the resulted toxic consequence was more than 31 times between the two criteria of defining the type of release.

There is a need to revamp this quantitative risk model to minimize the subjectivity in the risk calculation and to address the unique design features of offshore platforms.

This case study critically discuss the risk model being widely applied in the O&G industry and demonstrates to the end-users the subjectivity in the risk results. Hence, be vigilant when establishing the risk tolerance/target for the purpose of inspection and maintenance planning.