Communicating about ocean health: theoretical and practical considerations

As anthropogenic stressors threaten the health of marine ecosystems, there is a need to better understand how the public processes and responds to information about ocean health. Recent studies of public perceptions about ocean issues report high concern but limited knowledge, prompting calls for information campaigns to mobilize public support for ocean restoration policy. Drawing on the literature from communication, psychology and related social science disciplines, we consider a set of social-cognitive challenges that researchers and advocates are likely to encounter when communicating with the public about ocean health and emerging marine diseases—namely, the psychological distance at which ocean issues are construed, the unfamiliarity of aquatic systems to many members of the public and the potential for marine health issues to be interpreted through politicized schemas that encourage motivated reasoning over the dispassionate consideration of scientific evidence. We offer theory-based strategies to help public outreach efforts address these challenges and present data from a recent experiment exploring the role of message framing (emphasizing the public health or environmental consequences of marine disease) in shaping public support for environmental policy.     

Environmental Risk Management Decision-Making in a Societal Context

Recent studies point to the need for improved understanding of environmental management frameworks designed to combine qualitative public and quantitative technical inputs in decision-making processes. Flux in public perception and concern about risks imply frameworks must be iterative in nature and incorporate a variety of assessment triggers in the form of decision points. A conceptual model is proposed here to explain the de facto operation of standard risk analytic frameworks within the broader sociopolitical milieu of public policy. The model is presented as a decision flow diagram that emphasizes setting environmental management goals based on societal input and the formulation of decision criteria for selecting management actions to achieve those goals. Prospective and retrospective decision control points operate to select management options that, respectively, avoid or reduce actual or predicted effects. Feedback loops that modify risk management outcomes are identified. Technical and scientific inputs (i.e., risk analysis) are assigned an essential information role within the framework and are responsible for informing the management process with the results of appropriately conducted and reviewed investigations. The proposed model is intended primarily to indicate how environmental risk management decision-making and associated technical assessments may be influenced by social pressures. It is hoped this understanding will lead to analytical transparency and better public communication of the environmental implications of policy options.     

The application of life cycle assessment to public policy development

Purpose

Despite the potential value it offers, integration of life cycle assessment (LCA) into the development of environmental public policy has been limited. This paper researches potential barriers that may be limiting the use of LCA in public policy development, and considers process opportunities to increase this application.

Methods

Research presented in this paper is primarily derived from reviews of existing literature and case studies, as well as interviews with key public policy officials with LCA experience. Direct experience of the author in LCA projects with public policy elements has also contributed to approaches and conclusions.

Results and discussion

LCAs have historically been applied within a rational framework, with experts conducting the analysis and presenting results to decision-makers for application to public policy development. This segmented approach has resulted in limited incorporation of LCA results or even a broader approach of life cycle thinking within the public policy development process. Barriers that limit the application of LCA within the public policy development process range from lack of technical knowledge and LCA understanding on the part of policy makers, to a lack of trust in LCA process and results. Many of the identified barriers suggest that the failure of LCAs to contribute positively to public policy development is due to the process within which the LCA is being incorporated, rather than technical problems in the LCA itself. Overcoming the barriers to effective use of LCAs in public policy development will require a more normative approach to the LCA process that incorporates a broad group of stakeholders at all stages of the assessment. Specifically, a set of recommendations have been developed to produce a more inclusive and effective process.

Conclusions

In an effort to effectively incorporate LCA within the overall public policy decision-making process, the decision-making process should incorporate a multi-disciplinary approach that includes a range of stakeholders and public policy decision-makers in a collaborative process. One of the most important aspects of incorporating LCA into public policy decisions is to encourage life cycle thinking among policy makers. Considering the life cycle implications will result in more informed and thoughtful decisions, even if a full LCA is not undertaken.

     

Distribution of Virulence Genes in Clinical and Environmental Vibrio cholerae Strains in Bangladesh

Vibrio cholerae, an environmental organism, is a facultative human pathogen. Here, we report the virulence profiles, comprising 18 genetic markers, of 102 clinical and 692 environmental V. cholerae strains isolated in Bangladesh between March 2004 and January 2006, showing the variability of virulence determinants within the context of public health.     

Impact of disease characteristics and knowledge on public risk perception of zoonoses

Zoonoses represent a global public health threat. Understanding lay perceptions of risk associated with these diseases can better inform proportionate policy interventions that mitigate their current and future impacts. While individual zoonoses (e.g. bovine spongiform encephalopathy) have received scientific and public attention, we know little about how multiple zoonotic diseases vary relative to each other in lay risk perceptions. To this end, we examined public perceptions of 11 zoonoses across 12 qualitative attributes of risk among the UK public (n = 727, volunteer sample), using an online survey. We found that attribute ratings were predominantly explained via two basic dimensions of risk related to public knowledge and dread. We also show that, despite participants reporting low familiarity with most of the diseases presented, zoonoses were perceived as essentially avoidable. These findings imply that infection is viewed as dependent upon actions under personal control which has significant implications for policy development.     

Defining risk: Normative considerations

The public thinks about (i.e., defines) environmental human health risks in different terms than the “experts.”; And because the manner in which we conceive of risk goes a long way in determining how risk management is conceived and carried out, any definition of risk has important normative elements. I argue that environmental policy based on the public's conception of risk fails to adequately protect fundamental human rights to health and liberty, by taking undue account of certain psychological factors that enter into the public's perception of risk. A survey of some of these factors is offered in an attempt to determine their policy relevance. The traditional scientific conception of risk, although not adequate to entirely define risk policy, serves as an important anchor for the protection of these rights by focusing on the probability or number of adverse health effects.     

The rise and rise of emerging infectious fungi challenges food security and ecosystem health

This article highlights some of the more notable persistent fungal diseases of our times. It draws attention to the emergence of new fungal pathotypes infecting food staple crops, due largely to modern agricultural practices, and to nascent fungal diseases decimating frog populations worldwide and killing hibernating bats in Northern USA. We invoke use of the basic disease triangle concept to highlight the “missing” data, with regards to pathogen and host biology and to the various environmental parameters which may dictate disease spread. Given these data “voids” we comment on the implementation of policy. We conclude with a series of recommendations for improved disease surveillance and reporting, the need for greater public awareness of these issues and a call for greater funding for fungal research. In so doing, we have exploited Magnaporthe oryzae and Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis as exemplar emerging infectious fungi. Our aim is to highlight the impact of emerging and emergent fungi on food security and, more broadly, ecosystem health.     

Sources and Species of Cryptosporidium Oocysts in the Wachusett Reservoir Watershed

Understanding the behavior of Cryptosporidium oocysts in the environment is critical to developing improved watershed management practices for protection of the public from waterborne cryptosporidiosis. Analytical methods of improved specificity and sensitivity are essential to this task. We developed a nested PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism assay that allows detection of a single oocyst in environmental samples and differentiates the human pathogen Cryptosporidium parvum from other Cryptosporidium species. We tested our method on surface water and animal fecal samples from the Wachusett Reservoir watershed in central Massachusetts. We also directly compared results from our method with those from the immunofluorescence microscopy assay recommended in the Information Collection Rule. Our results suggest that immunofluorescence microscopy may not be a reliable indicator of public health risk for waterborne cryptosporidiosis. Molecular and environmental data identify both wildlife and dairy farms as sources of oocysts in the watershed, implicate times of cold water temperatures as high-risk periods for oocyst contamination of surface waters, and suggest that not all oocysts in the environment pose a threat to public health.     

Mars, Materials, and Three Morality Plays: Materials Flows and Environmental Policy

Although industrial ecology represents a captivating metaphor and rich repertoire of analytical tools, its impact on environmental policy has been marginal at best. This article examines the insights provided by the studies of three common materials in the US. economy-lead, arsenic, and silver-and the abilrty of such studies to illuminate some larger and looming challenges for future environmental policy. Three specific challenges are explored: the flow of materials across national borders, the increasing embodiment of emissions in products, and the dangers of unchallenged assumptions about the drivers of material flows. The article argues that industrial ecology can inform public policy but that it is time for the practitioners of industrial ecology, an applied science, to apply it in the often messy world of environmental policymaking.     

Science,Politics and Policy: How Michiganders think about the Risks Facing the Great Lakes

The Great Lakes region is an important ecological asset for the United States, yet studies show that several environmental risks threaten its viability. As a result, it is important to respond to these risks with effective policies. When and how policy is implemented often depends on public opinion and perceptions; yet, we understand little about how individuals from the Great Lakes region construct opinions about the threats facing the lakes. We seek to understand how individuals from the state of Michigan form opinions on three risks to the lakes: invasive Asian carp, climate change, and offshore drilling. To do this, we evaluate the utility of two dominant models of environmental opinion formation: trust and deference to scientific authority, and partisan bias and motivated reasoning. We find that when issues have been politicized, opinion is greatly influenced by political factors like partisanship but that trust and deference as well as underlying environmental attitudes play a more important role for issues that have not been politicized. We discuss the implications of these findings in terms of policy and communication in Michigan, arguing that if we want Michiganders to support policy consistent with science, they must view risk in ways that are consistent with scientific consensus. For that to happen, advocates and policy makers must focus on reducing the political rhetoric around these threats, developing communication that taps into underlying trust and deference to science, and using underlying attitudes about the role of government in environmental protection to promote environmental policy.     

Predators and the public trust

Many democratic governments recognize a duty to conserve environmental resources, including wild animals, as a public trust for current and future citizens. These public trust principles have informed two centuries of U.S.A. Supreme Court decisions and environmental laws worldwide. Nevertheless numerous populations of large‐bodied, mammalian carnivores (predators) were eradicated in the 20th century. Environmental movements and strict legal protections have fostered predator recoveries across the U.S.A. and Europe since the 1970s. Now subnational jurisdictions are regaining management authority from central governments for their predator subpopulations. Will the history of local eradication repeat or will these jurisdictions adopt public trust thinking and their obligation to broad public interests over narrower ones? We review the role of public trust principles in the restoration and preservation of controversial species. In so doing we argue for the essential roles of scientists from many disciplines concerned with biological diversity and its conservation. We look beyond species endangerment to future generations' interests in sustainability, particularly non‐consumptive uses. Although our conclusions apply to all wild organisms, we focus on predators because of the particular challenges they pose for government trustees, trust managers, and society. Gray wolves Canis lupus L. deserve particular attention, because detailed information and abundant policy debates across regions have exposed four important challenges for preserving predators in the face of interest group hostility. One challenge is uncertainty and varied interpretations about public trustees' responsibilities for wildlife, which have created a mosaic of policies across jurisdictions. We explore how such mosaics have merits and drawbacks for biodiversity. The other three challenges to conserving wildlife as public trust assets are illuminated by the biology of predators and the interacting behavioural ecologies of humans and predators. The scientific community has not reached consensus on sustainable levels of human‐caused mortality for many predator populations. This challenge includes both genuine conceptual uncertainty and exploitation of scientific debate for political gain. Second, human intolerance for predators exposes value conflicts about preferences for some wildlife over others and balancing majority rule with the protection of minorities in a democracy. We examine how differences between traditional assumptions and scientific studies of interactions between people and predators impede evidence‐based policy. Even if the prior challenges can be overcome, well‐reasoned policy on wild animals faces a greater challenge than other environmental assets because animals and humans change behaviour in response to each other in the short term. These coupled, dynamic responses exacerbate clashes between uses that deplete wildlife and uses that enhance or preserve wildlife. Viewed in this way, environmental assets demand sophisticated, careful accounting by disinterested trustees who can both understand the multidisciplinary scientific measurements of relative costs and benefits among competing uses, and justly balance the needs of all beneficiaries including future generations. Without public trust principles, future trustees will seldom prevail against narrow, powerful, and undemocratic interests. Without conservation informed by public trust thinking predator populations will face repeated cycles of eradication and recovery. Our conclusions have implications for the many subfields of the biological sciences that address environmental trust assets from the atmosphere to aquifers.     

A Virulence and Antimicrobial Resistance DNA Microarray Detects a High Frequency of Virulence Genes in Escherichia coli Isolates from Great Lakes Recreational Waters

Escherichia coli is generally described as a commensal species with occasional pathogenic strains. Due to technological limitations, there is currently little information concerning the prevalence of pathogenic E. coli strains in the environment. For the first time, using a DNA microarray capable of detecting all currently described virulence genes and commonly found antimicrobial resistance genes, a survey of environmental E. coli isolates from recreational waters was carried out. A high proportion (29%) of 308 isolates from a beach site in the Great Lakes carried a pathotype set of virulence-related genes, and 14% carried antimicrobial resistance genes, findings consistent with a potential risk for public health. The results also showed that another 8% of the isolates had unusual virulence gene combinations that would be missed by conventional screening. This new application of a DNA microarray to environmental waters will likely have an important impact on public health, epidemiology, and microbial ecology in the future.     

Basic Science and The NIH

The following is an edited version of the Keynote Speech delivered at the Annual Meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology by Harold Varmus, Director of the National Institutes of Health. The address, entitled Basic Science and the NIH, was given at the opening of the meeting in New Orleans on December 11, 1993. It was Varmus' first public policy talk as NIH Director.     

Insights on the implications of COVID-19 mitigation measures for mental health

Given the unprecedented level and duration of mitigation policies during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, it is not surprising that the public and the media have raised important questions about the potential for negative mental health consequences of the measures. To answer them, natural variability in policy implementation across US states and over time was analyzed to determine if mitigation policies correlated with Google searches for terms associated with symptoms of depression and anxiety. Findings indicated that restaurant/bar limits and stay-at-home orders correlated with immediate increases in searches for isolation and worry but the effects tapered off two to four weeks after their respective peaks. Moreover, the policies correlated with a reduction in searches for antidepressants and suicide, thus revealing no evidence of increases in severe symptomatology. The policy implications of these findings are discussed.     

Environmental Factors Related to Enterobiasis in a Southeast Region of Korea

Pinworm infection can occur through contact with contaminated surfaces followed by ingestion or even through inhalation of infective eggs. We have limited information regarding environmental contamination by eggs of Enterobius vermicularis. In order to determine environmental risk factors associated with the rate of E. vermicularis infection, we investigated possible environmental risk factors using a questionnaire from 46 kindergartens in 3 different cities of the southeast area of Korea. In total, using the cellotape anal swab technique, 3,422 children were examined for E. vermicularis infection. We evaluated E. vermicularis egg of books, educational materials, toys, room door handles, dusts of window edges, desks, chairs, tables, and dusts of classrooms. The overall egg-positive rate for E. vermicularis was 6.0%, and the prevalence of enterobiasis in each kindergarten ranged between 0% and 16.9%. We found that 78.9% of egg positive kindergartens were managed by private foundations, which was significantly higher, compared with kindergartens managed by public foundations or the nation. Compared with public or national kindergartens, most private kindergartens were located in residential areas and the number of children in these areas was significantly higher. In conclusion, numbers of children in kindergartens was found to be an environmental risk factor associated with transmission of enterobiasis in Korea.     

Using Win-Win Strategies to Implement Health in All Policies: A Cross-Case Analysis

Background

In spite of increasing research into intersections of public policy and health, little evidence shows how policy processes impact the implementation of Health in All Policies (HiAP) initiatives. Our research sought to understand how and why strategies for engaging partners from diverse policy sectors in the implementation of HiAP succeed or fail in order to uncover the underlying social mechanisms contributing to sustainable implementation of HiAP.

Methods

In this explanatory multiple case study, we analyzed grey and peer-review literature and key informant interviews to identify mechanisms leading to implementation successes and failures in relation to different strategies for engagement across three case studies (Sweden, Quebec and South Australia), after accounting for the role of different contextual conditions.

Findings

Our results yielded no support for the use of awareness-raising or directive strategies as standalone approaches for engaging partners to implement HiAP. However, we found strong evidence that mechanisms related to “win-win” strategies facilitated implementation by increasing perceived acceptability (or buy-in) and feasibility of HiAP implementation across sectors. Win-win strategies were facilitated by mechanisms related to several activities, including: the development of a shared language to facilitate communication between actors from different sectors; integrating health into other policy agendas (eg., sustainability) and use of dual outcomes to appeal to the interests of diverse policy sectors; use of scientific evidence to demonstrate the effectiveness of HiAP; and using health impact assessment to make policy coordination for public health outcomes more feasible and to give credibility to policies being developed by diverse policy sectors.

Conclusion

Our findings enrich theoretical understanding in an under-unexplored area of intersectoral action. They also provide policy makers with examples of HiAP across wealthy welfare regimes, and improve understanding of successful HiAP implementation practices, including the win-win approach.     

Commentary: The Rôle of Toxicology in Prevention and Precaution

Advocates of the Precautionary Principle have recently called for a “new science” to support the goals of precaution-based environmental and occupational health policy. While much attention has been given to epidemiology, the evidentiary science most relevant to precaution, or prevention, is toxicology. Opportunities for enhancing the rôle of toxicology in public policy must consider current biases in the field. Thus, rather than a “new science,” advocates for change should focus upon ensuring that current scientific methods are appropriate and that interpretations of scientific data are accurate.     

A Risk Assessment Approach for Policy Evaluation: New Jersey Case Studies

Monitoring environmental policy progress often focuses on contaminant concentrations while policy goals address health. To bridge this gap, we developed policy evaluation case studies applying risk assessment methods to explore population health risks of chemical exposures before and after policy implementation. Beginning in the 1970s the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection provided some of the United States' first data on contaminants including trichloroethylene in drinking water and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in fish. These data provide a unique opportunity to evaluate environmental policies. The 1979 PCB manufacturing ban succeeded in reducing exposure and risk, but the persistence of these compounds in local fish requires continued state and local consumption advisories. The positive impact of drinking water standards for trichloroethylene was reflected in declining detection in public water supplies from the late 1970s to 2005, although maximum concentrations in a small percentage of supplies remain above standards. Our case studies show success and progress, and the need for multiple policies in combination when conditions warrant. Tracking specific policies and contaminants using risk assessment methods can be a valuable tool for policy evaluation and can foster population-based environmental health research. Pollution prevention policies are warranted for chemicals that persist in the environment.     

Socioeconomic and Racial Disparities in Environmental Health: Is Risk Assessment Part of the Problem or Part of the Solution?

The term “environmental justice” is a relatively recent addition to the lexicon of public health and risk-based decision making. Although it is currently a prominent public policy issue, there is no consensus-derived definition, nor is there general agreement about viable mechanisms for putting worthwhile social goals (e.g., fairness, equity, and justice) into operation. Nevertheless, the concept of environmental justice has focused attention on important questions of whether economically and politically disadvantaged communities bear a disproportionate burden of environmental pollution, and whether past environmental policies, programs and practices have been fair and equitable. Among individuals and organizations involved with issues of environmental justice there is a spectrum of strong and often contradictory convictions about the nature and role of risk assessment. Critics are convinced it is part of the problem and are inclined to see it as an ethically suspect, resource-intensive, elitist, never-ending process used to maintain the status quo. Advocates, on the other hand, contend that risk assessment is an essential policy and regulatory tool for identifying, evaluating, and resolving instances of environmental injustice, and that it provides a unifying conceptual framework and a common language for constructive dialogue on the issue. This article argues that, in practice, risk assessment has contributed to both the reality and the perception of environmental justice problems because of the overly narrow and restricted manner in which it has been applied. In principle, however, risk assessment is part of the solution to environment injustices because it provides a beneficial construct for framing key questions and fostering constructive debate about how to answer them. Well-designed research studies and high-quality risk assessments are necessary to define the dimensions of the problem, to understand the root causes, and to identify effective, efficient, and equitable solutions. Ultimately, attaining the goal of environmental justice depends on putting risk assessment principles into practice.